I Became the Youngest Daughter of a Chaebol Family-Chapter 69: The Value of One Pound (1)

‘Britain's strong. A few months difference could change everything.’

This kind of short selling is a last-hit fight. If I keep swinging and run out of cash, I could end up crashing into the Han River with everyone else, and the leftovers will just get devoured by the other funds.

And more than anything..., I want more.

That billion dollars Soros supposedly made shorting the pound? Barely enough to buy Barings Bank.

Anyway, my plan was to attack Spain’s peseta first.

This event is going to twist history for real.

Because I’m going to twist it.

***

Nick Leeson’s current losses amount to about 700 million dollars. Just about equal to Barings Bank’s equity.

With a bailout, the bank could recover. But waiting for those losses to balloon to 1.4 billion like they did in the original history... feels like a waste.

That’s why ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) I decided not to give them the time to seek a bailout. I’d give the Bank of England something else to spend their money on.

“We got a reply from Quantum Fund. They’re asking if we shouldn’t just attack Britain directly.”

Ha Joo-seong, who I hadn’t seen in a while, calmly relayed Miller’s message. Stanley Miller, who I’d connected with during the Plaza Accord, was now at Soros’s Quantum Fund.

I smirked.

‘As expected of the greats.’

They’re not even from the future like me... and yet they make bold bets like it’s nothing.

Challenging Britain head-on—normal people can’t even imagine it.

“What about leverage?”

“They said Soros would have to approve it. They’ll ask, but if we’re being generous, up to 2 billion dollars might be possible.”

Ha Joo-seong was approaching it cautiously, with sound judgment. If we leverage a short and fail, the losses would be massive. Caution made sense.

Besides, even 2 billion is already a hell of a lot of money.

But... I know Soros used 10 billion when shorting the pound. So I wasn’t worried about getting his cooperation.

“Spain’s fine with just us. Proceed as planned.”

“Understood. Then when should we time the pound short?”

“Wait until we get a reply on that. In the meantime, review the plan. Yoo Seon-jun’s in Europe, right?”

Next to me, Lee Si-hyun nodded.

“Yes, he’s at a bank in Berlin, Germany. Currently serving as an outside director, but since he doesn’t hold many publicly known titles yet, coordination with Alpha Fund seems necessary.”

“How long ago did we acquire that...? Tsk. Contact Ha Yeong-il and have him implement additional measures. We can lay off half the staff if we have to.”

Phew...

I let out a soft sigh and adjusted my clothes.

Reflected in the full-length mirror stood a proper financier in a sharp black-and-white suit.

‘Alright, let’s do this.’

Let’s twist history properly. However I want. As much as I want.

–Whip.

My burning eyes swept across the room. I’d grown tall enough now that I could look down on every employee here.

Because they were all bowing their heads in front of me.

“We’ll hit Spain first, then Sweden... Britain comes third. You’re all clear on that, right?”

“Yes, ma’am!”

My fiercely loyal employees replied with nervous voices. I beamed, stretched my arm forward, and shouted.

“Alright! Let’s go shake Europe to its damn core!”

***

[Alpha Fund Challenges Spain! Announces Massive Short on the Peseta!]

[George Soros Also Launches Peseta Short! Estimated Amount: 8 Billion Dollars!]

[ERM Shaking... Germany Blamed for Inviting Wall Street Speculators]

First, I went public with our position.

Normally, hedge funds revealing their positions is extremely rare. If you're hit with a counterattack, it’s the same as getting pushed off a cliff.

And doing that to a sovereign nation? Takes nerves of steel.

But...

Every country in Europe was already drowning trying to defend their currency’s value, so Wall Street already knew they’d struggle to hold the line.

Realistically, this counted as Alpha Fund declaring war on Spain.

In the form of a five-billion-dollar short.

“...Looks like they used more leverage than we did.”

Ha Yeong-il muttered, exhausted from the effort of convincing Soros. There was a strange competitiveness in his tone.

“Still, that’s less than I expected. Maybe they figured Britain was in a different class?”

“...Less? You’re calling 8 billion dollars less?”

Ha Yeong-il stared at me in disbelief. Even though he’d already followed every one of my bizarre orders and predictions, it seemed he still wasn’t used to the scale of this money.

“Well, it’s plenty. It’d be hard to pull money back out if we went all-in now anyway....”

That’s why I put in 5 billion instead of 10. If things start happening all at once, opportunity cost becomes the biggest factor.

.

.

.

And just one day after I announced the short...

Wall Street’s entire pack of speculators converged. Led by my Alpha Fund and Soros’s Quantum Fund, every hedge fund on Wall Street charged into Spain with fistfuls of cash... and the tidal wave of money swept away everything.

[50 Billion Dollars in Peseta Shorts! Money Demons Occupy Spain!]

[Spain Announces ERM Withdrawal... Credit Rating Plummets]

Spain raised the white flag. Faced with a catastrophe too massive to handle, they surrendered quickly.

Current profits...

Three hundred million dollars.

The next target was Sweden. I immediately threw one billion dollars into a short on the Swedish krona.

***

One of the reasons I chose Sweden was because, in my previous life, Sweden had done something absolutely insane to defend the ERM under these same conditions.

They jacked up interest rates like maniacs.

Back then, the Bank of England had already collapsed, so Sweden gave in fairly quickly... but right now, only Spain had fallen.

[Swedish Central Bank Hikes Short-Term Rates to 25%...]

As expected, Sweden was cornered... but unlike Spain, they didn’t give up easily.

Exactly what I wanted.

“If they raise rates like that... ha.”

Lee Si-hyun swallowed hard, seemingly at a loss for words.

If interest rates go up, the stock market crashes, and the economy slows. Who’s going to borrow money, or invest in low-return stocks?

Plus, anything linked to interest rates—swaps and all kinds of derivatives—takes a heavy hit. Of course, interest on borrowed krona for the short also spikes, so the cost soars.

The Swedish central bank was aiming for that. A declaration that even if it meant wrecking their own economy, they would make damn sure you went down with them.

Bluntly put—they were pissed.

“Change our position. Reverse it temporarily in Sweden. Short Swedish bonds, especially focus on currency swaps. If rates go higher, there’ll be forced liquidations.”

“What? But it’ll only be for a short while, right? They won’t be able to hold out anyway!”

“Yeah, they won’t. But... chances are, neither will you.”

If a country seriously decides to destroy the speculators... you might die first.

Especially if you’ve leveraged yourself to hell.

Sweden was going to do something insane to protect their currency.

.

.

.

The next day, Sweden raised its short-term interest rate again—to 75%.

Driven by fury, Sweden now seemed ready to do anything. The massive short positions were instantly offset, and the krona temporarily rebounded.

With the unprecedented showdown of Country vs Corporation underway, the media—delighted—rushed to cover the chaos.

—“With rates rising this fast, of course! Ha-ha, Wall Street speculators just took a major hit.”

—“Oh, then does this mean Sweden can stay in the ERM?”

—“Hmm... probably not. Sweden’s economic weight isn’t exactly rock solid.”

Everyone thought the same thing: they wouldn’t last.

Everyone—except Sweden, probably.

Of course, I thought the same. But I also knew Sweden would hold out just a little longer.

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In the end, after pretending to go all-in with a $1 billion short, I secretly bet $2 billion on Sweden’s short-term rate hikes using derivatives.

“This... this isn’t even a hedge. If the krona crashes now, sure, you’ll make a bit, but with the timing mismatch, the $2 billion will evaporate. If they raise interest again, what—are you saying it’ll go above 100%?”

To Lee Si-hyun’s question, I replied without hesitation.

“Yep. It’ll go higher.”

***

The next day, Sweden raised the rate again.

In a way so insane no one—except me—could’ve seen it coming.

The announcement was so shocking that even the news anchor stumbled over the words.

—“Five hundred... the Swedish Central Bank has raised its short-term interest rate to 500% through emergency liquidity absorption and lending rate hikes.”

That’s right.

Five hundred percent.

Sweden’s central bank had raised the short-term interest rate to 500%.

Now... in Sweden, your annual interest was five times your principal.