Super Spender

“Well, I just contacted our headquarters, and we at the Red Flower Bank have checked it out for you, Mr. Lewis. At present, we can only secure 6% of the floating shares on the stock market for you. These shares are actually owned by a certain stockholder under the Floral Wealth Group. He is merely an investor and has no issues with selling when the price is right. It is worth your while to do business with him…” Oscar Blair thought through his words thoroughly before speaking.

“As for the rest, approximately 20% of the shares have been acquired by some mysterious fund. We are not quite sure what they intend to do with the shares of Activision Blizzard they have absorbed. However, according to the intelligence from our head office, this mysterious fund is a very well established one, having been around for decades. It has garnered very little exposure and has only made a few investments in the forex and futures market in recent months, presumably earning at least hundreds of billions of federal coins.” Blair commented with a hint of admiration in his tone.

“What did you just say?” Finn Lewis was taken aback, unable to hold back his question

Finn was quite taken aback by this unexpected news from Oscar Blair! It was quite clear to him who had acquired those 20% shares. It was Olivia Thatcher acting on his command. As to how Olivia went about it, he never inquired, but he was sure that it was done through Zero’s channels. He had already experienced the methods Zero used when transferring money to him.

Now Oscar is talking about a mysterious fund? An established fund?

“Huh? I said approximately 20% of the shares of Activision Blizzard on the stock market have been discreetly absorbed by an established fund. It is a very mysterious hedge fund and even the Floral Wealth Group doesn’t have much information on it. It has been around for at least several decades, dating back to World War I at least. Although they remain elusive, every time they make a move, they earn substantial profits.” Oscar repeated himself, sounding a bit puzzled. He continued, tentatively asking, ‘Mr. Lewis, do you have any information on this fund?”

“Oh, not really. I was just a bit curious. So, there are some hedge funds even you finance groups don’t know about, huh?” Finn responded casually, although his mind was reeling.

It existed since World War I? That fund must undoubtedly be Zero’s. Given Zero’s capabilities… investing in stocks, futures… it would be hard not to make money. Thinking about the near century-long history… making money, no losses… the thought made Finn break out in a sweat.

So, the question that begs asking now is, where did all that money go? It certainly couldn’t have just simply disappeared. If it didn’t disappear, then it could only have been concealed within the global financial market, amassing immense wealth. Given Zero’s abilities, hiding their assets would be a piece of cake.

From what Oscar had shared, Finn had inadvertently gotten a glimpse of the tip of Zero’s iceberg. An old hedge fund? Damn, Zero’s abilities wouldn’t be any less impressive than Hawking’s, would they? After nearly a century… how much money would Zero have made? When Finn thought about that figure, he suddenly understood why Zero never seemed to run out of money.

“Hmm, this hedge fund is very mysterious. From what I know, it seems like I heard that during the 2007 global economic crisis, the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the 2002 internet bubble, and so forth, this hedge fund was always profitable. But each time, they were very methodical. They were never the biggest winners but were always within the top three. What’s most terrifying though is their precise judgement.” Oscar sounded somewhat in awe when speaking about this.

For financial experts, individuals like Hawking and Barrett are considered big guns, and this mysterious fund seems to be even more impressive. Riding the crest of the wave of this surprising news, Finn nearly dropped his jaw in astonishment. But he soon shook his head and could only conclude that Zero really was a badass!

“Haha, sometimes, I have this feeling that this mysterious fund might actually be the legendary Rothschild family.” Oscar finally burst out laughing as he spoke.

Finn was quite speechless, but he quickly changed the subject: “Let’s get back to the shares.”

“Yes, at present we can only secure 6% of the shares. Apart from this mysterious fund, the majority of the remaining shares are in the hands of some investors. However, acquiring these shares would be quite difficult unless you’re willing to pay a 100% premium.

“In addition, the two CEOs of Activision Blizzard each have around 23% of the shares, which together amounts to about 47%. Then there’s the 10% held by Vivendi Group, and another 8% held by the other shareholders in Kodiak Kennedy’s private investment company. However, out of that 8%, I can only help you secure 1%. The remaining 6% is held by T Company, and securing that final 1% would be extremely difficult.”

“After our assessment, it is unlikely that Vivendi will sell their 10% stake, even at a 100% premium. If they did sell, it would impact their overall corporate strategy and cause Vivendi’s market value to plummet. They would lose more than just this bit of money. So, Vivendi is unlikely to sell.” Oscar explained, sounding a bit troubled.

However, Finn could not help but marvel. Red Flower was indeed one of the top ten consortia in the North Federation. In just three hours, they had gathered so much information. Finn was already overjoyed that Oscar had managed to secure 6% of the shares for him.

Oscar had no idea that the 20% stake held by the so-called mysterious, established fund was in Finn’s hands. Coupled with the 7% that Oscar had secured, that amounted to 27%. If they could secure the 6% held by T company, Finn’s stake in Activision Blizzard would reach 33%!

Add the 23% that Kodiak had decided to sell to Finn, and that would make it 56%! Finn would have a controlling interest! The 10% held by Vivendi and the 24% held by Kelly wouldn’t affect the balance of power anymore.

“Transfer the 7% stake you have secured to me.” Finn said decisively.

“No problem, it should cost around 30% above market price.” Oscar answered straightforwardly. Now that he had made the necessary contacts, the deal was as good as done.

“Okay, I’m willing to go as high as a premium. As for how much Floral Group can negotiate, that’s not my concern. But what I want is efficiency.” Finn said decisively.

If you want a horse to run, you have to let it eat its oats. A 10% premium for the Floral Group to negotiate on its own was not a sticking point for Finn. After this, the last important step was to settle the stake in South California’s MIH. Mr. M has a great deal of influence in T Company, although Mr. M only had about 10% in T Company, even when Finn’s 2% stake was included..