Rebirth Tokyo 1986

Chapter 366 Hundreds of Billions in Working Capital
"President, it's a call from the Xinghai Foundation."

"okay, I get it."

Masato Takeshita yawned, then picked up the phone, looking slightly tired.

Yesterday's celebration banquet lasted until almost midnight, and he's still feeling a bit sleepy.

"Yes, you too."

"Oh, great."

Upon hearing the news from Kamoto Takamasa, Takeshita Masato immediately perked up.

After six months, the six zodiac-themed funds have finally completed their stock liquidation.

"Well done! How much did you get for the stocks in total?"

"what?"

Takeshita Masato stood up in surprise and asked again in disbelief.

"Really? The total holdings of just six zodiac-themed funds have exceeded 6 billion?"

In 1994, holding over $100 billion in funds meant that one was practically invincible.

It's worth noting that during the 98 financial crisis, a mere $600 billion was enough to force South Korea to surrender.

Even major South Korean banks, whose status is comparable to that of China's major state-owned banks (Agricultural Bank of China, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, and China Construction Bank), have had to transfer a large number of shares to American capital.

In addition, South Korean conglomerates such as Hyundai and Samsung have also had to relinquish a large number of shares.

Of course, in the 1990s, South Korean conglomerates were relatively weak, and the government was undoubtedly the most powerful force in South Korea.

The ability of South Korean conglomerates to counterbalance the government is mainly due to the efforts of two 21st-century presidents, Roh Moo-hyun and Lee Myung-bak.

One of the leaders who strongly supported the Samsung Group during his tenure created the concept of the Samsung Republic.

One who saved Hyundai during his reign, allowing the eldest son's lineage of the Hyundai Group to rise again.

Of course, Lee Myung-bak wasn't that foolish. He reduced the support he had given, but simply gave the eldest son's lineage a chance to revive.

Unlike Roh Moo-hyun, who, despite having an excellent personal reputation, had a terrible ability to govern the country and created the situation where Samsung Group had a semi-monopoly in South Korea.

It could be said that Roh Moo-hyun's governing ability was perhaps only slightly better than that of the inhuman presidents during the early years of South Korea's founding.

Kamoto Takamasa on the other end of the phone quickly gave an affirmative answer.

"hiss!"

Takeshita Masato slammed his hand on the table, involuntarily gasping for breath.

Because of his previous estimates, Jiaben Longzheng thought that the Zodiac Fund would hold a maximum of $900 billion in cash assets after selling all its stocks.

Although it is still a lot, it is far less impressive compared to the hundreds of billions.

Unexpectedly, the six zodiac-themed funds actually managed to increase their profits by an additional $147 billion on top of the original estimates.

"Is it really true that cash assets reached $1027 billion and undistributed profits reached $847 billion?"

That's $847 billion. According to the agreement signed between Starsea Fund and its investors, Starsea Fund will receive half of the profits, which is $423.5 billion.

Masato Takeshita was still somewhat incredulous at the result and checked it again.

Soon, Takamasa Kamoto excitedly reaffirmed his decision.

Such substantial profits mean the company will distribute enormous dividends. Even if Xinghai Fund's dividends are less than those of a typical hedge fund, it will still amass a fortune.

"Impressive, it truly lives up to its reputation as the financial industry, the easiest industry to make money in."

An initial investment of $180 billion ballooned to hundreds of billions of dollars in just over four years, demonstrating the immense profits of the financial industry.

Of course, Xinghai Fund is an exception. Most funds cannot guarantee stable growth every year.

Making a fortune this year could mean losing it all again next year.

Xinghai Fund's stable annual growth rate of around 50% is outstanding in the hedge fund industry and even the entire fund industry; it's a god-like existence.

That's what makes reborn people so terrifying. With a little familiarity with the world economy, they can become super-rich simply by waiting for their stocks to appreciate, without needing to engage in any leveraged trading.

After silently reflecting on his thoughts, Takeshita Masato simply responded to Kamoto Takamasa, who was waiting over there.

"I'll talk to you now, I'll be right there."

"Well, see you later."

After finishing his sentence, the young man quickly hung up the phone and immediately took a car to Xinghai Fund.

"Sigh, maybe we shouldn't separate."

Masato Takeshita sat anxiously in the car, secretly blaming himself for moving the Xinghai Fund out last year.

While it prevented employees from other companies within the group from contacting Xinghai Fund, it also caused him to waste a lot of time on unnecessary interactions.

However, the bustling activity outside the window quickly calmed the young man down.

"I was stupid. Xinghai Fund must move out. It occasionally needs closed management."

Take this liquidation as an example; the employees were sealed off for six months. If the transaction had taken place at the bustling headquarters, it would probably have been known to global financial giants in less than three days.

Unlike now, after Starsea Fund completed the capital-protected transaction, that is, after selling $180 billion worth of stocks, other financial capital gradually learned the inside story.

Of course, the Xinghai Foundation may have deliberately leaked this information.

Once other financial players learned that Xinghai Fund guaranteed principal, they naturally lost interest in targeting it.

You don't earn any real benefits, and you offend a lot of people.

The six zodiac-themed funds have the vast majority of their capital coming from the world's elite. If someone were to deliberately cause trouble, countless powerful figures in the United States alone would not let the troublemaker get away with it.

The two houses are not too far apart; it only takes half an hour to park a car in front of the building.

"Good morning, President!"

As soon as Masato Takeshita got out of the car, the leadership of Xinghai Fund in front of the open space bowed to him at a 90-degree angle.

Their faces were filled with admiration, admiration for their chairman's stock-picking ability.

Cisco, which was once an inconspicuous company, has become a formidable giant, bringing substantial profits to Xinghai Fund.

Nokia, which was once on the verge of bankruptcy, has now reached new heights, becoming the largest mobile phone giant in Europe and second only to Motorola and Starsea Mobile worldwide.

It can be said that it is precisely because of Masato Takeshita's stabilizing influence that Xinghai Fund has been able to maintain such high annual profits.

It's important to know that Xinghai Fund's growth rate is exponential, not just a 50% annual growth rate from the initial base.

"What are you all doing? What happened?"

Masato Takeshita was completely unaware of his employees' thoughts and looked at them with utter confusion.

Kaben Longzheng, with his keen observation, immediately noticed this.

He said respectfully again, "The Xinghai Foundation's outstanding achievements are entirely due to the chairman's leadership. We simply want to express our respect to the chairman."

"Oh, I was startled. There's no need for this. We're a team, and we couldn't have achieved what we have today without anyone."

Masato Takeshita waved his hands repeatedly, saying that as the company's sole shareholder and founder, he had no need to compete with his employees for credit.

Because all the credit an employee earns will automatically go to him.

The young man then said, "Alright, it's getting hotter and hotter outside. Let's go inside and talk."

Takeshita Masato walked briskly ahead, not wanting to talk too much outside. He suggested discussing things in the office or meeting room. "Yes, Chairman!"

On his way to the office, Takeshita Masato sincerely said to Kikuno Shinji, "Kikuno-san, you've really worked hard these past few days."

During the six-month closed-end stock trading period, the most arduous task was undertaken by Vice President Shinji Kikuno.

He not only had to keep a close eye on the trader's actions to prevent any unexpected situations, but also had to stay up late every day to process a large number of stock trading-related documents.

It can be said that his workload is twice that of the president, Takamasa Kamoto, and countless times that of the vice president and head of the supervision department, Masao Nagasawa.

"This is all I should do; it's nothing compared to how hard I worked at Shanxi Securities."

Shinji Kikuno used to be a heavy drinker, which is why he was also very good at his job.

But it was precisely because of his high alcohol tolerance that he had to drink until very late every day at Shan Yi Securities, which eventually ruined his health.

Although I need to stay up late right now, I have plenty of rest time during the day, which helps my body recover.

Staying up late isn't the problem; it's the irregular sleep schedule that's causing your health to deteriorate.

When he was at Yamaichi Securities, his work and rest schedules were very irregular.

Sometimes I have to drink with clients until the next morning, then quickly wash up and go back to work.

In fact, hedge funds are supposed to operate this way. They only get four or five hours of rest each day, and often go dozens of hours without sleep.

For most hedge funds, opportunities are fleeting, and they must seize every chance to make money.

For example, Soros' Quantum Fund had rest periods during the initial setup phase, but during the final short-selling phase, every employee was basically working around the clock.

In addition, many hedge funds seek opportunities globally to short and long stocks. Exchange opening hours vary, resulting in highly fragmented rest periods.

It's fair to say that most traders and fund managers at top financial institutions risk their lives for money in their early years. Only after achieving a certain level of success and becoming a member of the company's management or a partner can they finally relax a bit.

Soon, the group arrived at the small conference room reserved for management.

Let's have a meeting first, and discuss a wrap-up plan together.

Although we had experience with this before, it had been more than four years, so it took us more than two hours of discussion to finalize the entire workflow.

"Okay, let's do it this way for now. We'll have a light lunch at the company, then have a company-wide meeting in the afternoon, and then go to the Prince Hotel for a celebration banquet."

Even before he arrived at the Xinghai Foundation, Masato Takeshita had already arranged for his secretary to make a reservation at the Shinagawa Prince Hotel.

Although it was rushed, senior Yoshiaki Tsutsumi was very accommodating and immediately agreed to the young man's request.

However, for some reason, the young man felt that his senior's tone was somewhat wistful.

Perhaps it's because they feel that the world changes drastically, and everything is subject to change.

Once arrogant and invincible, controlling one-sixth of Japan's land, he now lives in constant fear.

Every morning when I wake up, I check whether land prices have fallen again.

Meanwhile, the former president of an insignificant small company, a junior who even needed his help to buy a house, saw his company flourish and his status rise day by day.

The ability to help the government solve employment issues alone is enough to make many politicians desperately try to curry favor with them.

Even he himself now needs the help of young people.

Yoshiaki Tsutsumi also wanted to acquire a portion of the investment share from Xinghai Fund in order to alleviate the financial situation of the company and himself.

Knowing their president's habits, everyone naturally responded in unison.

"Yes, President!"

"Okay, let's break up the meeting."

The Xinghai Foundation has only a few hundred employees. Upon hearing that the chairman would be attending this meeting, they all sat happily in the meeting room, waiting for more good news.

"Hey, Daisuke, how much prize money do you think we can get?"

"I don't know, but I think it should be around ten or twenty million each."

Shikazu Tamura was also a new employee who joined the company last year and was not familiar with the bonus distribution situation of Xinghai Fund.

Although he had heard that Xinghai Foundation was also very generous to newcomers, he only dared to think about this level of bonus.

As a newcomer who has been with the company for less than a year, my last six-month bonus was over two million yuan.

This time the company earned an astronomical sum that I never imagined, so my bonus should be increased several times over.

Only in this way can we motivate everyone to work.

"I think it should be more than that, at least thirty or forty million."

At this moment, Daisuke Yamada, like an ignorant old farmer in a joke book, imagined the emperor using a golden hoe to till the land and eat.

With nearly $85 billion in revenue and over $40 billion in profit, the two founders' bonuses were less than $100 million. Xinghai Foundation would likely be ridiculed by its peers for being stingy.

This has always been the case in the financial industry: after making money, employees must be given substantial bonuses. Although Masato Takeshita is in charge of the development of Xinghai Fund, he cannot be stingy with bonuses.

At most, the proportion will be slightly reduced, with other hedge funds having a 20% proportion and Xinghai Fund having a 5% proportion.

Of course, the bulk of the profit sharing goes to management. But even the leftovers are enough for lower- and middle-level employees to have a decent meal.

The discussions among the new employees were laughable, and the veterans weren't much better off. Although they knew the company would be giving out huge bonuses, they only dared to guess a few tens of billions of yen, less than 10 billion US dollars.

Just as everyone was discussing it, the side door of the conference room reopened.

Takeshita Masato and his entourage sat happily on the platform.

When the leaders arrived, the employees stopped discussing and the entire meeting room fell silent.

"Good afternoon, everyone. I am the president, Masato Takeshita."

Although everyone knew him, the young man still introduced himself as usual.

At the same time, the employees also habitually applauded in welcome.

After the applause subsided, Masato Takeshita spoke with deep emotion.

"Last night, thanks to everyone's efforts, Xinghai Fund completed its liquidation. The results were very fruitful, far exceeding my expectations."

"This is the result of our collective efforts and represents the fruits of victory."

"Here, I sincerely thank everyone present. Without you, Xinghai Foundation would not have achieved its success today."

Although he hates polite words, he has no choice but to say them in this situation.

Even so, he tried his best to shorten the process, reducing a lot of words to three or four sentences.

Faced with their president's words of gratitude, no employee dared to find fault. Everyone responded, "It's what we should do, president, you're too kind."

Masato Takeshita didn't care how sincere or insincere everyone was, and continued to express his gratitude in a procedural manner.

Thank you all for your hard work and for your continued dedication.

The young man then bowed to the leadership to express his gratitude.

"President, you're too kind. We should be thanking you first."

Kamoto Takashi was very excited and quickly helped Takeshita Masato up. Kikuno Shinji and the others followed suit, saying similar things.

"Yes, President, we are the ones who should be thanking you."

Nobody considers themselves important; they see themselves as mere appendages to the company's growth. Having them is certainly nice, but not having them is perfectly acceptable.

(End of this chapter)