Western Bronco Inc. made a huge splash by shorting Yahoo. Their approach was bold: they announced their intention to short Yahoo a month in advance and executed the trade when Yahoo's stock price had soared past 150 billion USD. They poured 20 billion USD into selling Yahoo stocks, effectively wiping out 10 billion USD in market value.
This astonishing move naturally sparked global discussions about Mr. Little Swift. Simultaneously, all Yahoo investors faced a choice: either trust Little Swift and join him in shorting Yahoo, or distrust him and seize the opportunity presented by the mass sell-off of Yahoo shares to buy more, anticipating Yahoo's continued rise.
The vast majority, however, deemed Little Swift insane. Thus, they bought heavily as Little Swift sold Yahoo stocks, which explains why 20 billion USD in stock only reduced the market value by 10 billion USD – there was more capital ready to absorb the sell-off.
After the market closed, many companies meticulously reviewed the data and discovered that some investors had indeed sided with Little Swift, with approximately 10 billion USD joining the shorting of Yahoo stocks.
However, this outcome did not concern Yahoo supporters; instead, it made them more triumphant.
This meant that the total market value of stocks actively shorted against Yahoo reached 30 billion USD, yet Yahoo's market value only dropped by 10 billion USD. This indicated that a substantial 20 billion USD in capital had unwavering confidence in Yahoo and was ready to step in.
What further pleased the supporters was that when the market opened the next day, Yahoo's stock price began to climb again. By the midday closing, its total market value had recovered to 149.8 billion USD, a mere 200 million USD shy of breaking 150 billion USD once more.
What did this signify?
It signified that more people had faith in Yahoo. In the stock market, a stock's price is not determined by its operational performance but by the confidence investors and institutions have in it. As long as there is sufficient confidence, Yahoo's stock price will never fall.
Consequently, Little Swift's fund was destined for bankruptcy in three months. This investment company, which had once yielded a 500% return and enjoyed only a year of prominence, was on the verge of its myth-shattering downfall. It was a cause for great rejoicing.
Black people are indeed foolish; they are not fit to play in the financial world.
However, unbeknownst to them, Little Swift was not in America but had come to France, staying close to Huang He and taking instructions from him to manage the company.
Initially, Huang He had not wanted Little Swift to come, suggesting that taking orders over the phone in America would be just as effective.
But Little Swift refused. This involved 20 billion USD in capital, and Little Swift's heart trembled as he issued commands for this sum. In fact, after ordering the entire 20 billion USD to be converted into Yahoo stocks and then sold off, Little Swift felt utterly dazed.
After much deliberation, Little Swift decided to stay by his boss's side, as only by being near his boss could Little Swift feel a sense of strength supporting him.
In simple terms, Little Swift was shifting the blame.
Huang He, however, did not mind. Let him come; it was merely adding another mouth to feed.
After all, Huang He himself had 10 billion USD in capital in the stock market.
You ask where Huang He got this 10 billion USD?
That, of course, was obtained by leveraging his existing stock holdings. Huang He still held 20% of Apple stock and 20% of Google stock. He mortgaged all of these stocks to financial institutions, borrowing 10 billion USD, which he then poured into the market to jointly short Yahoo.
However, this move truly exposed Huang He to risk.
While Little Swift controlled a larger sum of 20 billion USD, it was not Huang He's money; it belonged to American investors. If this money were lost, at most, Western Bronco Investment Company would collapse, and Little Swift would vanish without a trace, leaving Huang He with no financial loss.
But if this 10 billion USD were severely depleted, it would be Huang He himself losing money. Yet, Huang He's expression remained nonchalant because he was acutely aware that Yahoo's good days were numbered.
This was because Google was also about to hold a press conference.
Google's press conference was scheduled for the day after Yahoo's, in the midday, precisely when Yahoo's total market value had stabilized at 149.8 billion USD, and then again at midday for the market close.
In contrast to the large number of attendees at Yahoo's press conference, the turnout for Google's press conference was sparse, with only about twenty to thirty reporters.
Furthermore, no major media outlets were present; it was almost exclusively attended by reporters from smaller media outlets. This clearly indicated the market's lack of focus on Google.
The market believed that with Yahoo launching its own search engine, Google's days were numbered and it would soon perish under Yahoo's dominance.
Then, Google held its press conference.
He appeared on the podium expressionless. Seeing the sparse reporters in front of him, a hint of resentment flickered across his face.
However, this resentment quickly turned into a trace of pleasure, and a peculiar smile even curved his lips.
Larry Page then began to announce the main topic of the press conference: Google's preparation to list on NASDAQ. He was reading Google's prospectus.
For a company to go public, it must present an extremely detailed prospectus, outlining its equity distribution, the number of shareholders, employee numbers, salary structures, project portfolio, monthly profits, and market share. All of this must be disclosed in the prospectus.
In essence, Google was laying itself bare for all investors to see and understand.
Upon hearing that Google intended to go public, many reporters present displayed expressions of "as expected" mixed with disdain.
Google's intention to go public was not surprising. After all, it was facing a life-or-death situation, and only by listing could it raise substantial funds for a chance of survival. Therefore, Larry Page's desire to go public was not unusual.
However, no one present held a positive outlook for Google, believing it was merely a death throe. Even with the prospectus released, it was unlikely to meet the basic listing requirements, marking it as a futile struggle.
Larry Page, however, had no interest in what the reporters were thinking. He began to read out key information from Google's prospectus with a blank expression.
Initially, the reporters listened rather casually, but soon, they began to discover some interesting details.
For instance, within Google's current equity structure, 20% of the shares belonged to an investor named Huang He. This name sounded very much like the Chinese figure, Huang He, who had been making waves in Europe recently.
Immediately, a reporter raised their hand and asked if this Huang He was the same Chinese tycoon, Huang He, who had purchased a French royal palace and invited three princesses to serve as models.
"I am unsure if the Huang He you mention is our shareholder Huang He. I can only tell you that our shareholder Mr. Huang He is a Chinese national!" Larry Page stated calmly. Although he did not explicitly confirm Huang He's identity, given that there was only one wealthy Chinese person named Huang He, this essentially confirmed Huang He's identity.
Huang He being a shareholder of Google – this was major news!
The reporters' enthusiasm was immediately piqued. Huang He was currently quite popular in America. Firstly, Huang He's purchase of a French royal palace had become a source of amusement for Americans.
Furthermore, Huang He had invited three princesses to be models. In the eyes of Americans, Huang He might have even been involved romantically with the three princesses. This news was filled with imaginative possibilities and had sparked much speculation among the American public, thus making Huang He famous in the United States.
"Oh well, for Huang He's sake, let's give Google some news coverage!" many reporters muttered, intending to write about Google's IPO press conference with Huang He as the central theme.
However, these reporters soon realized their mistake as Larry Page quickly moved on to introduce Google's current market share.
"As of July 21, 2003, Google Search holds 88.6% of the entire US search engine market, 74.2% of the European search engine market, 92.1% of the Southeast Asian market, and 94.4% of the Latin American market," Larry Page announced calmly, presenting a set of figures.
"How is that possible?" The reporters were stunned by this data.
They were not interested in the Southeast Asian or Latin American markets; these were merely smaller markets. They were truly interested in the data for the US and European markets, which were the two largest internet markets globally.
But Google commanded 88.6% of the US market and 74.2% of the European market.
Was this data even plausible?
This data had to be fake, surely. Wasn't Yahoo supposed to be the market leader?
Was this a fabricated figure by Google to deceive investors?
Therefore, a reporter interrupted Larry Page mid-speech and directly asked, "Mr. Page, does your market data include all search engines worldwide?"
"Of course!" Larry Page nodded.
"Does it also include Yahoo's search engine?" the reporter pressed further.
"As I said, my data is compiled up to July 21, 2003. This date includes all search engines operating on this day!!" Larry Page did not directly answer the question, but anyone checking the news would know that Yahoo's search engine had become available across the entire web on July 16th. Although it was only five days before July 21st, even being ahead by just one day meant this data would include Yahoo's search engine.
In other words, Yahoo's search engine had been crushed?
A stunning realization dawned upon everyone.