Reborn in America, I am a legendary short seller on Wall Street.

Chapter 158 An unexpected surprise
After Mr. Porter finished speaking, Larry looked at him and exclaimed, "God above, how could we mere mortals possibly know such secret knowledge that only Wall Street veterans would know? It's simply amazing that you can exploit loopholes to buy pre-IPO shares!"

Mr. Potter smiled without saying a word, his gaze fixed on Wallace...

Mr. Wallace quickly raised his hands in surrender, saying, "Compared to you, I'm nothing!"

Mr. Potter laughed heartily, and then said,
“Alright then, I’ll take this job. Today is March 12th, and GE’s initial public offering of shares should begin on the last Monday of March, which is the 28th! I’ve been collecting bonds in the bond market for the past few days, as many as I can. Don’t take the money you made from Colt with you; just leave it with me!”

Mr. Wallace laughed heartily, as his own account was already at Paine Weber Securities and he didn't need to take it with him.

But Larry was in a bit of trouble, because he had to transfer the money to his own company account first, then sign a mandate agreement with Mr. Porter before he could help him buy Edison Electric Light Company bonds, and then wait for General Electric stock to begin its initial public offering...

Wait a minute!!

Larry suddenly had a jolt in his mind. He thought to himself, Mr. Porter said that General Electric would not issue its initial shares until the end of March. So what about the shares that Mr. Koster was keeping for him now?
It definitely shouldn't be General Electric!
No! That's not right! If it wasn't General Electric, then what company's newly issued shares did Mr. Koster give me?
Larry immediately fell into reminiscence, and after a short while, he sighed:
Throughout my conversations with Mr. Koster, I never mentioned that I wanted General Electric.

While in Hartford, Larry asked Mr. Coster if there was a merger going on recently, led by Mr. Morgan. Coster didn't ask for the name, but just nodded and said that there was such a thing.

On Friday, when I was in Mr. Koster's office, he only said that he had "gotten some new shares," without saying that the new shares were from General Electric.

Larry's face remained expressionless, but deep down he was filled with regret...

This is the consequence of thinking that "not burning photos is unprofessional." They didn't clearly state what kind of newly issued shares they wanted to buy, and as a result, the two of them seemingly completed a transaction in tacit agreement. But what was the truth?
Larry had no idea what the newly issued shares Mr. Coster had left him were!
Yes, we can't do things like that again, or it will cause a huge blunder!
However, recalling Mr. Koster's winking and telling himself yesterday that he would definitely make a lot of money from this deal, he remembered that Mr. Koster had made a lot of money from this deal.

Larry thought it was highly likely that Mr. Coster had reserved another type of hot stock for him.

Mr. Potter and Mr. Wallace exchanged a few words, and seeing that Larry remained silent, they both turned their gaze to Larry.

Larry chuckled dryly and quickly promised Mr. Porter that he would transfer all the money to the account by next Wednesday so that Mr. Porter could purchase bonds according to the pre-arranged plan and then wait for the opportunity to subscribe to the newly issued shares!
Subsequently, both Larry and Mr. Wallace signed a business authorization letter for Mr. Potter.

When Larry asked Mr. Porter why he didn't participate in the subscription of General Electric's initial public offering (IPO) shares, the latter replied very seriously that he was just a client and was only willing to earn commissions from fulfilling client mandates.
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At 8 a.m. on Sunday, Larry took out Mr. Coster's business card in his luxury suite and dialed the number on the card.

"Ring, ring!"

After two rings, Mr. Koster answered the phone, his voice crisp and clear, "Hello, this is Mr. Koster, please speak!"

These days, anyone who can make phone calls must be either rich or powerful. Mr. Coster answered the phone himself, without delegating to his secretary.

"Mr. Coster, this is Larry Livingston. I'd like to inquire about the stock issuance!"

“Ah, it’s Mr. Livingston!” Mr. Coster’s tone immediately softened.

Larry swallowed hard, thinking to himself that he must have as little contact with Mr. Coster as possible after this matter was over; the feeling of being stared at by him was too terrifying!

"Mr. Livingston, does your call at this time mean that your client can pay in cash before noon today?" Mr. Coster asked.

“Yes, Mr. Koster. But I’ve forgotten the full name of the company’s stock. He needs to write me a letter of authorization…” Larry made up on the spot.

"Oh, that's normal, such a long name. If you asked for the full name, I'd have to look up some information. Please wait a moment..."

As he spoke, the sound of rustling documents being searched came from the other end of the phone. After a while, Mr. Koster's voice came through again.

"Yes, it's the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Consortium. This is the culmination of Mr. Morgan's three years of hard work in consolidation. After the company goes public, its value will increase significantly!"

Larry took a deep breath, his heart pounding. These days, the most profitable projects for major Wall Street investment banks were integrating railroad companies.

By this time, the frenzy of railway development had passed, and the numerous railway companies with conflicting shareholdings and overlapping lines not only hindered long-distance freight transport but also frequently resulted in redundant construction and malicious competition.

Mr. Morgan's current focus is on integrating several regional railroad companies into one entity. This would significantly reduce company expenses and help prevent malicious competition between lines. At this time, railroad companies are undoubtedly "high-tech and highly profitable" enterprises. Integrating them and obtaining a high premium is the top priority of Morgan's banking business.

Larry remembered that the last time he visited Mr. Morgan's private library in New York, he was meeting with the chairman of a railroad company.

In Mr. Coster's mind, the consolidation of the railroad companies was the most important and profitable merger of all companies, and he didn't think General Electric was of any importance. When Larry had just proposed to take a stake in "the company that was being consolidated," Mr. Coster naturally assumed that Larry knew about the consolidation and stock issuance of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford railroad companies.

However, this was an unexpected bonus for Larry. After all, no one knew whether General Electric's stock would rise or fall after its IPO, but the railway company's integration and listing would definitely lead to a decent increase.

Larry thought for a moment, a smile playing on his lips, and hurriedly asked, "Mr. Coster, how do I get the money? In cash?"

Mr. Koster thought for a moment, "Do you want all 20,000 shares?"

Yes! I want them all!

“Then have the bank issue a cashier’s check, $25 in total!” Mr. Coster said decisively.

After hanging up the phone, Larry rushed to National City Bank in New York.

There, his account had received $101.25, which was $100 million transferred by Larry and a $12512 commission rebate.

The bank staff were astonished when they saw the funds in the account and immediately notified the branch manager.

The general manager personally came out to pay his respects to Mr. Livingston and invited him to activate the full privileges of a VIP client, including personal checks.

Larry thought to himself that this was a good idea; with personal checks, large payments and personal transfers would be much more convenient in the future.

So, Larry was granted VIP client privileges, and the bank quickly issued him a $25 cashier's check payable on demand.

After activating his premium client privileges, Larry simply deposited his three checks for $2.43 in bonus money into the account. When he later sent the money to his parents, he could simply write personal checks or open his own bank account for them and transfer the money there.

After depositing the money, Larry had a total of $1,036,812 in his account at National City Bank in New York.

At this point, the bank had already issued $25 in promissory notes for Larry and pre-registered and frozen the $25 promissory notes in Larry's account. If the promissory notes were subsequently cashed, the $25 would be transferred to the bank account.

Larry thoroughly enjoyed the tedious process of conducting business at the bank because it gave him a sense of accomplishment. The numbers in his bank account were Larry's source of confidence, and the number of "0"s on the balance sheet represented his level of prestige within the bank.

Finally, the branch manager personally presented a small, exquisite leather suitcase containing two items: a bank draft payable on demand for 25 dollars, and Larry's three stacks of personal checkbooks.

Larry ran his fingers over the dark blue leather checkbook with gold-edged embossing, revealing the moisture-proof lining and the watermarked security paper with micro-letter security features.

Larry opened the checkbook and, when the light shone through, saw the hidden handwriting on the checks: BANK OF NEW YORK. 1892.

Looking at his checkbook, Larry suddenly wanted to laugh, thinking to himself that he was now someone who used personal checks too.

(End of this chapter)