The world's largest financial group, CITI Group.
Each of its executives held enormous influence.
Wherever they went in the world, just being a CITI Group executive guaranteed them top-tier treatnt.
But in the boardroom, their deanor was ek — like lambs before a beast.
"I'm not here as chairman for you all to ss things up! If you have a voice, then speak up!"
The only person yelling in the boardroom was Sandy Weill.
Though he had stepped down as chairman amid corruption allegations, he still pulled the strings as the power behind the throne at CITI Group.
"Apologies. The worsening real estate market has greatly increased our debt ratio. But we're cutting costs through layoffs and plan to reduce debt by divesting overseas operations and subsidiaries."
"So you want to hand over the companies and businesses I built to others? Who told you to ramp up leverage to 25 tis?!"
CITI's current crisis was due to excessive leverage.
With leverage ratios between 25 and 30 tis, CITI's cash reserves alone were insufficient to weather the storm.
Sandy Weill sounded as if he had only just realized this — but no major leverage decisions were made without his approval.
Still, no one dared to contradict him.
"And what about the subpri mortgage bond insurance? Who approved insurance contracts that pay out more than 20 tis the value?"
"The board decided. The insurance payout conditions aren't fully t yet, but if the real estate market stays this way through next year, the conditions could be triggered."
"I see you've signed many insurance contracts with SAVE Investnt and the fintech bank."
SAVE Investnt's status on Wall Street had grown trendously.
It boasted the highest investnt returns of any firm and had never failed an investnt — Sandy Weill knew this well.
And there was another reason he knew it so well.
SAVE had once employed Dimon, his protege and top partner.
He also knew the fintech bank well.
Dimon had spun off from SAVE Investnt to establish that bank, so Weill couldn't be ignorant of it.
"SAVE Investnt and the fintech bank anticipated the risks of subpri mortgage bonds early and ca to us. It's clearly a deliberate trap."
"Don't they know on Wall Street, the one who gets played is the fool? Just because they set a trap doesn't an the insurance contracts are invalid."
Sandy Weill shouted loudly.
All the executives bowed their heads and remained silent.
But unlike the others, one person held her head high and raised her voice.
"To handle the current situation, we need to secure cash assets as soon as possible. And we must resolve the insurance issues before the conditions are fully triggered if we want to survive."
"Who here doesn't know that?"
"Everyone knows the solution, but no one steps forward. So I will try to resolve it. I'll et with SAVE Investnt and Dimon to negotiate."
Sandy Weill's gaze softened as he looked at the executive speaking.
It was his eldest daughter, Jessica Weill, so he couldn't speak harshly.
She was also the one who would succeed him as the head of CITI Group, so he had to treat her differently from the others.
"Alright, you try. If this works out, no one will doubt your abilities."
"I will co back with good news, I promise."
Jessica was confident.
Her confidence ca from having known Dimon since childhood and from the fact that Dimon held a large amount of insurance.
There was a ti she truly considered him a brother by blood, and she believed Dimon felt the sa about her.
***
The FinTech Bank that dominated Silicon Valley.
Despite the economic turbulence caused by the real estate market, large amounts of money continued to flow into Silicon Valley.
Many entrepreneurs, backed by investnts through innovative ideas, didn't need to use the huge sums imdiately, so they deposited their funds in banks—primarily the fintech bank favored by the titans of the IT industry.
Because of this, the fintech bank was growing larger by the day.
Jessica Weill, visiting the fintech bank for the first ti, was secretly surprised at its even greater scale than she had expected.
"The bank president is waiting for you inside."
"Still punctual as ever," she said.
With a confident stride, she moved toward the bank president's office.
No matter how successful the fintech bank was in Silicon Valley, she was the heir of the world's largest financial group.
So she entered the office confidently.
Once the door closed and she was alone with Dimon, she smiled and spoke with a sense of triumph.
"Brother! It's been a long ti. I really missed you."
"Humph, please mind your manners. This isn't a private eting," Dimon responded, raising a taphorical wall.
Jessica was shocked—and beyond that, felt betrayed.
The person who once cared so much for her was now giving her a colder look than anyone else.
"You've changed a lot."
"Thanks to soone like you," Dimon replied sharply. "Enough small talk. Why did you want to see ?"
"I ca to ask for help. CITI Bank wants to sell so of its subsidiaries to the fintech bank. And I want to negotiate canceling the insurance contracts, too."
Dimon let out a bitter laugh at the situation.
He couldn't believe soone so clueless about the situation was trying to negotiate.
And that such a person was pushed forward as the heir just because they were family.
"Director Jessica, I understand the desire to sell subsidiaries, but I don't understand the part about wanting to negotiate canceling the insurance contracts."
"I'll pay five tis the premiums you've paid so far. Isn't that a good enough offer to cancel the insurance?"
Just five tis the insurance premiums?
This insurance wasn't just about five tis — if the conditions triggered, it could pay out 500 tis or more.
"That condition is absolutely impossible. If I accept that, the fintech bank's custors and shareholders will sue for breach of fiduciary duty. Please propose a negotiable condition. This isn't child's play."
"That's harsh. So what do you want? To collect the full insurance payout? You should have so conscience. Are you trying to ruin the company my father built?"
Was this conversation even aningful?
He never thought she'd just co here and throw a tantrum without a plan.
"When did I ever threaten you to sign the insurance contract? When we signed it, no one said a word. What are you complaining about now? I don't want to hear any more. Please leave. And if you want to negotiate, send soone with a proper offer and the right authority."
"Are you saying I'm not a proper person?"
"Ask any banker on Wall Street if this is a reasonable offer. They'll all tell you it's a joke."
Beep! Dimon pressed the call bell.
The secretaries and security waiting outside entered the office, and at Dimon's gesture, they surrounded Jessica.
"Are you really going to do this? You shouldn't act like this, thinking of old tis."
"Ask the chairman if he really cast out like this, thinking of old tis. Now leave."
Jessica stord out, fuming.
Watching her back, Dimon felt a bitter sting.
If he were still under Sandy Weill, he'd be stuck cleaning up after a brat like her.
Thanks to Boss (Kim Min-jae), he had avoided that fate.
And now, he stood in a position to look down on the very Sandy Weill who had betrayed him.
***
The subpri mortgage crisis bombs began exploding massively in every corner.
Every month, at least one mortgage company declared bankruptcy, and major Wall Street financial firms announced huge losses.
"Boss, Morgan Stanley has also reported massive losses — a staggering $3.7 billion."
"How much insurance do we have with Morgan Stanley?"
"Save Investnt has $10 billion, and the fintech bank has over $20 billion."
"So that's a combined total of $30 billion."
"Even if the U.S. governnt provides support, the scale of these bad assets makes survival difficult. They'll likely try to sell off many assets and convert to bank holding companies to stay afloat."
But the problem didn't end there.
While Morgan Stanley might survive with governnt aid and restructuring, several other companies were not so lucky.
"Is AIG the company with the largest insurance contracts?"
"Yes. Combining ours and the fintech bank's, it's over $300 billion."
AIG, the largest insurance company in the U.S., had issued the most insurance on subpri mortgage bonds.
"Soon, the U.S. governnt will be reaching out."
"If AIG collapses, it's effectively the collapse of the entire Arican insurance system. The 'too big to fail' principle might not apply to investnt firms, but it definitely applies to AIG. The governnt will let others fail, but will never let AIG go bankrupt."
That was why so many insurance contracts were tied to AIG.
It was a company that could never be allowed to fail — a joker card in any negotiation.
"The U.S. governnt must be busy deciding which companies to save and which to let fail."
"But without our consent and the fintech bank, no decision can be made. Even if they try to save so companies, the mont we file insurance claims, those companies will collapse."
From the perspective of Wall Street investnt firms, we were like grim reapers.
Those we reached out to survived, but those we didn't were dragged straight to bankruptcy hell.
"Boss! The U.S. governnt has requested a eting. They urgently want you to co to Washington with Dimon from the fintech bank."
David burst into the office, his face flushed with excitent as he conveyed the governnt's wishes.
"Finally, we can start real negotiations."
"Is it ti to harvest the fruits of the tree we've been watering for years?"
"We just need to pick only the fruits we want and put them in the basket."
"There are so many delicious fruits. Honestly, I want to eat them all, but it's such a sha that we can't."
"We only need to eat the tastiest fruits. The other hyenas need to survive too, right?"
At the end of the administration, the U.S. governnt was at its weakest.
It was a ti when they could afford to make sowhat bold demands.
They desperately wanted to prevent even bigger bombs from exploding before the term ended, so they had no choice but to accept our demands.
Of course, making unreasonable demands would inevitably cause backlash.
But since we had already established a good relationship with the incoming U.S. president, there was no need to worry about any aftershocks.
TL/n -
You can read up to Chapter 751 (complete) by supporting at ko-fi/inkbound
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