Losing Money to Be a Tycoon

The more Meng Chang listened, the more he felt that there was something amiss behind this matter.

He did not interrupt but continued listening intently.

Fan Xiaodong paused for a moment and said, “If the news that Dayak Corporation is going to sell Finger Games is true, the upper echelons of Finger Games must have their own considerations and plans.”

“After hearing the news, I observed the movements of the upper echelons of Finger Games through various channels and finally found some clues.”

“There is a high-level executive in Finger Games. His name is Charles Kotick. He is different from a high-level executive who was a designer like Chrétien. He was the co-founder of Finger Games from the beginning. He was not a designer but the main financial backer. When he was at his peak, he had nearly 40% of Finger Games’ shares. He was the real authority in Finger Games.”

“Not only that, after Finger Games was bought over by Dayak Corporation, he was deeply trusted by Dayak Corporation. Without any suspense, he won against the other co-founders and became the CEO of Finger Games.”

“Dayak Corporation spent a huge sum of money and gave Tengda a huge sum of money. They forced a privatization contract to ask Finger Games to withdraw from the market and obtain complete control. After some twists and turns, they were listed again. During this process, Dayak Corporation very generously gave about 10% of the shares to England!”

“It can be seen that he is deeply trusted by Dayak Corporation. It would not be an exaggeration to say that he is the true controller of Finger Games.”

Meng Chang nodded slightly. This was actually not difficult to understand.

Dayak Corporation had gone through painstaking means to retract their shares from Tengda because they thought that Tengda was an enemy and a competitor. Leaving the shares and operating rights of the local server in Tengda would cause huge harm to IOI. That was why they did not hesitate to spend a huge sum of money to retract them.

On the other hand, distributing some shares to the upper echelons of Finger Games was to motivate them so that they could design IOI well and earn more money.

Leaving the market was to obtain complete control, and going public again was to re-enter the capital market and obtain more benefits.

Dayak Corporation attached the most importance to him among the upper echelons of Finger Games. As for the reason… it might be because he had grown into a shape that the capital loved.

In this aspect, the higher-ups who knew how to operate capital were much more likable than those who only knew how to design games.

Fan Xiaodong continued, “Then, after I investigated, I realized that Charles seemed to be lobbying everywhere. He successfully convinced four investment firms and jointly funded the establishment of an investment firm, registered on the Cayman Island.”

“On top of that, he also set up a financial management company with his own brother. From the structure, this financial management company is the only partner of that investment company, which is the actual manager of the funds.”

Meng Chang quickly understood. “That’s why… this new investment firm that was established by four investment firms is actually under the control of this funds management company, and this fund management company is under the control of Charles and his brother. As for the four investment firms that were jointly funded… they are actually only the backers and don’t participate in the actual management.”

Fan Xiaodong: “That’s right! This is very interesting. Why did Boss Pei go through so much trouble to set up this investment firm? Since it’s an investment firm, he has to invest in something, right? What reason did he use to persuade these four big investment firms to fork out money and become their sponsors?”

Meng Chang pondered for a moment and said, “He… wants to force their hand? He wants to intercept!”

Fan Xiaodong nodded. “Yes! That’s the only explanation!”

“Obviously, Dayak Corporation views Finger Games as a negative asset and wants to sell it, but that’s not what Charles thinks. He is the co-founder of Finger Games and a veteran in the game industry after all. No one knows the value of video games and Finger Games more than him.”

“He saw Dayak Corporation’s sale as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!”

“He probably wanted to use other potential buyers to observe and think of ways to lower the value of Finger Games so that Dayak Corporation would be forced to sell it to him at a lower price.”

“Of course, I’m not sure how to do this exactly. I guess that on the one hand, Charles must have lied to Dayak Corporation that IOI is not going to make it. No one will offer them better conditions than this. On the other hand, he must have put pressure on Dayak Corporation through other channels, such as some investment firm that invested in Dayak Corporation.”

“There might be a consultant team sent by Dayak Corporation in Finger Games to be in charge of analyzing possible potential buyers and the other party’s bids, but Charles is the CEO of Finger Games after all. He can use various methods to obstruct and even use the CEO’s power to disperse this consultant team.”

“Charles must be more confident now that he has made up his mind.”

Meng Chang pondered for a moment and smiled. “Indeed, only capital can defeat capital.”

“Boss Pei is not the only one who knows Dayak Corporation’s weaknesses.”

“On the surface, this Charles is the CEO of Finger Games. He works diligently for Dayak Corporation. However, once he encounters such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, he would reveal his fangs and want to become the owner.”

“The key is… he really has a huge chance of success!”

“If he can really use this opportunity and bluff Dayak Corporation through various methods, think of ways to suppress the value of Finger Games while thinking of ways to facilitate the transaction, he would really be able to make a huge profit.”

“As the CEO, he has a lot of power. As long as negative news is inadvertently leaked, Finger Games’ stock price will continue to fall.”

“However, there are risks in doing this. Therefore, he must move quickly!”

“Dayak Corporation contacted some buyers in private, but they did not have a good discussion. That’s because their intention to cash out was too obvious. These buyers felt like they were taking over the business. They were not optimistic about Finger Games’ prospects, so they were still watching. If they did not make a move, it was only because they did not make a move that Charles could buy back his shares from Dayak Corporation at a low price. However, if they delayed it for too long and allowed other companies to wake up, they might snatch them from him.”

“What’s more, while this operation by Charles is very high-end and dazzling, the more complicated the operation, the bigger the problem. It would definitely violate some details and regulations. It would definitely affect others, especially the interests of the small shareholders. These people would not let the matter rest. They would definitely sue Charles in a bid to pause this deal.”

“Of course, there will also be a strong legal team on Charles’ side. They will not easily lose the case, but he cannot afford to delay it. Therefore, the most likely outcome would be that they will settle in court and he will get rid of the money to avoid the disaster. However, no matter what, as long as this happens, it will definitely take a long time.”

“The only variable is… Boss Pei!”

“Is that why you’re asking me about Boss Pei’s views on this?”

Fan Xiaodong was very happy. It was easy to talk to smart people. “Yes, if Boss Pei did not make a move, the final outcome would probably be Finger Games’ successful sale. However, strictly speaking, it is not considered a sale. It should be said that Charles would become the biggest winner.”

“However, if Boss Pei were to make a move… that’s hard to say. No one can guess what Boss Pei would do.”

After some consideration, Meng Chang said, “I think… Boss Pei might buy Finger Games.”

“This is a good opportunity for Boss Pei to lower the value of Finger Games since he thinks that this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

“GOG might be invincible in the world now but IOI is still a competitor with a lot of potential after all. It still has influence around the world.”

“If he buys it, it would be equivalent to having the entire MOBA game market in your hands. At that time, if IOI made money, Boss Pei would not lose out. If IOI died, it would be equivalent to GOG dominating the world. Boss Pei would not lose out!”

“I don’t think Boss Pei isn’t aware.”

“What’s more, the set of combinations that Boss Pei threw at IOI through GOG, especially the various activities during the Chinese New Year period, can tell that Boss Pei has invested a lot of effort in this matter. I don’t believe that he doesn’t have a backup plan.”

Fan Xiaodong was excited as well. “Yes, that’s what I want to say!”

“If Boss Pei were to make a move, what would happen? Charles had done a lot of preparation work. Tengda appeared just as he was about to take over at a low price! Dayak Corporation was naturally overjoyed. They were going to sell anyway. Wouldn’t it be the same no matter who they sold it to? As long as they had more money!”

“At that time, it would be a competition between both sides. Charice might have a lot of money on hand, but it is obviously incomparable to Tengda.”

“Then… Finger Games’ shares will plummet first, and then skyrocket…”

“If we could buy it at the lowest point and sell it at the highest point, we would be able to profit even if we did not participate in this transaction.”

“However, the only question now is whether Boss Pei intends to make a move or not? If Boss Pei doesn’t make a move, the stock price will not be able to rise. Then, we will be buying stocks for nothing.”

Meng Chang thought for a moment. “Leave this to me. I’ll report to Boss Pei later. I’ll think of a way to pretend to mention this unintentionally to see Boss Pei’s attitude.”

Fan Xiaodong quickly said, “Be careful. Boss Pei is so smart. If he sees our intentions, he might backfire.”

Meng Chang patted his chest and answered confidently, “Don’t worry! I’ve roughly figured out Boss Pei’s temper now. Nothing will go wrong.”

Fan Xiaodong was very happy. “Alright, as long as we have definite news, we will buy Finger Games’ shares. We might not make as much as before this time, but it will definitely be more considerable!”

If there was no accurate news from Meng Chang, he would definitely not dare to make a move even if Fan Xiaodong saw this opportunity.

The reason was simple, the risk was too high!

Any slight misstep could turn from profit to loss.

However, if he could obtain confirmed news from Boss Pei, it would be completely different!