After finishing his meeting with President Bush, Seok-won left the White House and headed straight for Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, where a private jet was waiting.
Following instructions from the control tower, the jet raced down the runway at full speed, lifted off the ground, and soared into the deep blue sky.
Once it reached its cruising altitude of 35,000 feet and leveled out, Andrea, a blonde Latina beauty, emerged from the front galley and approached with a warm smile.
"You may unfasten your seatbelt now."
Seok-won pressed the clip to release his belt and shifted into a more relaxed position.
"Bring me a glass of whiskey on the rocks."
At that moment, Landon, who had boarded with him, stood up and walked over, naturally joining in.
"I'll have the same, please. Andrea."
"Yes."
Andrea gave a slight nod and headed back toward the front galley. Landon took the empty seat across from Seok-won and spoke.
"I just got a message from Andrew. The SEC has begun a preliminary internal investigation into Enron's accounting fraud allegations."
"It's been four days since we handed over the materials related to Raptor that were used for the accounting manipulation. That's quite a delay before starting an inquiry."
"Given that Enron is the seventh-largest company in the U.S., and more importantly, how deeply it's tied to President Bush, they probably found it hard to move rashly."
"So they were watching the White House."
"It would be stranger if they didn't care about the mood of the person who appointed them."
"True enough. President Bush hasn't even been two months into appointing the new SEC chairman yet. That must have put them in an even more awkward position."
Landon nodded with a serious look.
"On top of that, the opposition has been trying to turn the Enron situation into a political issue, which would have made it even harder for them to step in."
"If investigating Enron meant helping the opposition, that would explain it."
Just then, Andrea returned with glasses of whiskey on the rocks, setting them down on the table and briefly interrupting the conversation.
"Is there anything else you need?"
"Thank you, Andrea. I'll call you if I need anything."
"Anytime."
With a playful wink, Andrea picked up the empty tray and walked away.
After waiting for her to put some distance between them, Landon looked back at Seok-won and resumed speaking.
"But this wasn't something they could simply bury and move on from. In the end, they had no choice but to launch an investigation."
Seok-won gently swirled the glass in his hand, the ice clinking softly as he spoke.
"The longer the Enron scandal continues to shake the broader market, the more investor frustration will grow. The media and the opposition will also pressure the SEC, so they can't just sit on it forever."
"Given that the SEC moved almost immediately after you met with President Bush, it's possible the directive came from the White House."
Recalling how President Bush had seemed ready to cast aside Enron's chairman, Seok-won gave a small nod.
"That's possible."
At that, Landon broke into a wide smile.
"Once word spreads on Wall Street that the SEC has begun a preliminary investigation, the anxiety among the reverse short sellers who are still holding onto their positions without selling will spike."
As Landon's eyes gleamed with anticipation, Seok-won took a sip of whiskey and rotated the glass in his hand, replying calmly,
"That's when the real game of nerves begins."
"A game of nerves?"
Seeing Landon's puzzled expression, Seok-won leaned back into the plush seat and spoke.
"Once the SEC investigation begins, it won't take long for Enron's accounting fraud to be confirmed."
"Just examining the evidence we provided would be enough to clearly show there were illegal activities."
"Exactly. And naturally, that information will also make its way to the major Wall Street investment banks that bought Enron stock, hoping to trigger a short squeeze. So what do you think those banks will do once they learn the truth?"
Realising what he meant, Landon let out a small exclamation.
"They're the type who value money over promises. They'll try to dump their Enron shares before anyone else and escape the sinking ship."
Seok-won grinned, flashing his teeth.
"At that moment, selling will cascade like a collapsing dam. The stock price, barely holding at sixty dollars a share, will plunge and fall straight into a deep abyss."
"Then we can scoop up those bottomed-out shares at dirt-cheap prices."
Imagining how massive the profits could be, the corners of Landon's mouth rose almost to his ears.
But Seok-won's next words made Landon's eyes widen.
"No. Don't close the position. Keep shorting."
"What? You mean increase our short position at this point?"
"That's right."
Seok-won nodded without the slightest hesitation, leaving Landon visibly shaken.
"You're aware that our short position alone has already surpassed thirty billion dollars, aren't you?"
"Of course."
"And despite that, you're saying we should keep selling Enron shares?"
Landon asked, unable to hide his disbelief, but Seok-won continued calmly.
"Yes. And don't stop the short bets against the major Wall Street investment banks either, including Goldman Sachs. Keep them going."
At that, Landon's expression hardened as he leaned forward and spoke in a grave voice.
"Are you seriously expecting Enron to go bankrupt?"
"It's not an expectation. That's exactly what will happen."
Faced with such certainty, Landon studied him with a worried expression before cautiously offering a counterargument.
"There's no denying that accounting fraud is a serious offense, but even if they put the previously hidden debt back on the books, they still have more assets than liabilities, don't they?"
"For now, yes."
Landon frowned slightly.
"What do you mean by that?"
Seok-won rested his interlaced fingers on both armrests as he replied.
"If the accounting fraud were limited to what we've uncovered, Enron might avoid bankruptcy, just as you say. But I don't believe that's the case."
"...!"
"Considering how Enron expanded and grew at an unnaturally rapid pace, there are likely far more problems still hidden beneath the surface."
Given the way Enron's management had deceived shareholders and investors for so long, it wasn't hard to imagine that there were additional layers of fraud. Landon found himself unable to argue.
"Once the SEC forces them to restate years of falsified financial statements, not only will their liabilities increase, but their grossly inflated assets will shrink dramatically. At that point, can you still say they'll be fine just because assets exceed liabilities?"
"Hm."
Landon let out a low murmur.
"Especially Enron's broadband network, which they poured massive investment into when they entered the telecommunications business. After the dot-com bubble burst, it became nothing more than a burden. The books list the broadband division at thirty-five billion dollars, but do you really think it would fetch anything close to that now?"
Landon paused to think, then replied in a subdued voice.
"Getting even half that value would be difficult. A third might be more realistic."
"When you consider that most of Enron's assets are in that condition, it would actually be harder for the company not to go bankrupt. And without support from the White House, surviving would be even more difficult."
"Now that you explain it that way, I see your point."
"That's why I'm telling you not to stop. Keep shorting until Enron's stock drops below ten dollars."
Having grasped Seok-won's intent, Landon swallowed hard.
"If it really plays out as you say, our return will exceed ninety percent."
"Exactly. Which is why we shouldn't stop the short positions."
Seok-won replied casually, taking a relaxed sip of his whiskey.
As the short interest grew, so did the Eldorado Fund's profits. There was no reason to stop betting against it.
Landon was deeply impressed, not only by Seok-won's ability to see several moves ahead of everyone else, but also by the sheer nerve and confidence it took to keep pressing the attack with hundreds of billions of dollars on the line.
"When Enron and the major Wall Street investment banks' stock prices start to wobble, fear will spread through the market. Investor sentiment will contract, and the indices will fall in tandem. Place short bets on the benchmark index stocks in both the U.S. and Japanese markets."
At Seok-won's next instruction, Landon raised a concern.
"The stock market will take a hit, but the drop probably won't be that severe. Wouldn't it be better to focus on Enron and the major Wall Street banks instead?"
"You can't short the major investment banks endlessly the way you can with Enron. We need to expand our profits by targeting other stocks that will be negatively affected by the Enron fallout."
"Ah, I see."
It made sense, and Landon nodded.
"Then how much should we bet?"
As if he had already decided, Seok-won answered immediately.
"Since this is just a side play, let's keep it modest. Put in about twenty billion dollars each."
"That much?"
While Landon's eyes widened in shock at the larger-than-expected amount, Seok-won spoke as if it were nothing.
"Even twenty billion dollars, if we spread it across the benchmark stocks, comes out to barely around a billion per name at most."
"That's true, but…"
"If the price swings aren't that large, we need to increase the stake to generate meaningful returns. Let's just proceed as planned."
"Understood."
Landon smacked his lips, then suddenly let out a short laugh.
"Being able to call forty billion dollars' worth of short bets 'modest'… you're probably the only one on Wall Street who could say that."
Seok-won let a small smile slip over the rim of his whiskey glass, then added as if he had just remembered something.
"Oh, and include the funds that came in from Korea as a blind fund in this round of bets as well."
"You mean the full four-point-seven-four billion dollars?"
"That's right."
Since the blind fund had no fixed investment targets and was managed entirely at Seok-won's discretion, Landon agreed without complaint.
"I'll take care of it."
In truth, Seok-won had another, hidden reason for placing short bets on the benchmark index stocks in the U.S. and Japan.
It was because, just a few months later, a black swan would occur that would plunge the global financial markets into panic.
"If I told anyone that Islamic extremist terrorists would hijack four passenger planes at the same time and carry out suicide attacks by crashing them into the World Trade Center in Manhattan and the Pentagon, they'd say I was insane."
Setting aside whether anyone would even believe him, bringing it up and then having the attack actually happen later could lead to dangerous suspicions that he was somehow connected to the terrorist organisation.
Considering how the United States completely lost its restraint after 9/11 and became consumed with vengeance, it was best to avoid doing anything that might draw even the slightest suspicion.
That was how terrifying a radicalised United States could be. Not only Russia, but even Iran, North Korea, and Iraq, which were branded the "Axis of Evil" at the time, had crouched low in fear, worried that America's fury might turn on them next.
Knowing that countless innocent lives would be lost, Seok-won agonised over it for a long time, but in the end made the difficult decision to keep his mouth shut.
And even if he knew that the stock market would collapse in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, simply placing short bets could later invite suspicion. That was why he had used Enron as a pretext and laid the groundwork in advance.
"…Still, it weighs heavily on my heart."
He was certain that he would reap enormous profits, but thinking about the people who would lose their lives in the attacks left Seok-won with a heavy, unsettled feeling.