I have a debt of 3 trillion, and my creditors are begging me not to die.

Chapter 125 Yang Chen does not accept surrender alone, NBA alliance splits
After all, Gates is the founder of Microsoft and a real super-rich man. His TV speech instantly pulled Microsoft's stock price back by 5 points.

Gates also kept his promise and immediately increased his holdings in Microsoft through his personal account and his foundation.

Thanks to Gates' reputation and real money investment, Microsoft's stock price was pulled up again and soon recovered 10 points. It is now only down 8%.

The wealth of the rich people on the rich list is not actually real money; most of it is the shares of the companies they hold.

For example, when the share price of Nongjia Spring was as high as more than 60 Xiangbi, Zhong Yuemin's personal wealth was 5500 billion Long Coins. Now that the share price of Nongjia Spring has fallen to 30 Xiangbi, his personal wealth is only more than billion. It can be obviously inferred that his personal wealth is almost all the market value of the shares he holds in Nongjia Spring.

The same reason.

Most of Gates' wealth comes from his shares in Microsoft. In order to avoid high wealth taxes and inheritance taxes, he donated a portion of his real wealth to his foundation, which then makes investments and charitable donations.

Although Gates nominally has a fortune of more than 1500 billion Eagle Coins, he only has a small amount of money that can be used as working capital. More than billion Eagle Coins is already his limit. If he wants to continue to increase his holdings, he must mortgage his shares to banks, securities firms and other institutions in exchange for funds. However, this is very risky. Once he makes a mistake and cannot repay the money, his mortgaged shares will be taken away by the other party.

After Gates had spent all of his 100 billion Eagle coins, he directed the Gates Foundation to use money to increase its holdings. The Gates Foundation's semi-annual budget of 90 billion Eagle coins had a balance of less than 20 billion Eagle coins. Such a small amount of money was simply not effective, so Gates made a bold decision to overdraw next year's 100 billion budget to increase its holdings. After Microsoft's stock price stabilized, he would donate another 200 billion Eagle coins to the foundation.

More than 2 billion Eagle Coins were invested, and Microsoft's stock price continued to decline, reaching %.

Gates showed a gratified smile, and said to the staff around him: "It seems that my sword is still sharp, and it will be no problem to deal with Yang Chen."

The staff nearby laughed and flattered Gates.

"When Mr. Gates was becoming famous all over the world, he was not even born yet. How could he be your rival?"

"It was the highlight of his life that Mr. Gates would condescend to deal with him."

"Yes, it is the honor of his life to be defeated by Mr. Gates."

……

Gates smiled and waved his hands, saying, "That's not true. He was able to successfully short so many companies and even made the European football world surrender. This shows that he is still very strong."

Did you hear that?
It’s not that the boss doesn’t like to be flattered by people around him, but the way people around him flatter him has to be right.

They should affirm Yang Chen's ability. Other big guys are no match for Yang Chen, but Yang Chen just happened to be defeated by Gates. This is the only way for Gates to gain the greatest sense of accomplishment.

Simply saying something that sounds awesome and cool doesn't highlight how awesome Gates is, so naturally he's not very satisfied.

This is like Liu Bang and Xiang Yu. Liu Bang did not deliberately belittle Xiang Yu's ability like other victors did, but praised him as a unique strong man in the ages.

But even such a strong man was eventually defeated by Liu Bang. Doesn't this make Liu Bang seem more powerful?
The people around him understood what Gates meant and quickly took the shot again.

However, at this moment, the situation suddenly changed.

Microsoft's stock price suddenly plummeted. The stock price that Gates and the Gates Foundation spent nearly 20 billion British eagles to pull back fell another %. In addition, the sell orders on the market increased rapidly, and the few buy orders were quickly eaten up.

Gates and the staff nearby suddenly changed their expressions and woke up from their previous smugness.

Gates hurriedly shouted, "What's going on? Who is selling? Contact the brokerage immediately to find out who is selling! Such a large volume must be sold by institutions! Damn, selling at this time is just to go against me on purpose. I will never let him off easily!"

The brokerage firm responded quickly, and the staff gave Gates the recorded list of institutions and large retail investors who were selling Microsoft stock.

BlackRock, Vanguard, State Street, T. Rowe Price, Fidelity, Blackstone…

When Gates saw this list, his first reaction was that maybe he was wrong. These were all institutions of the Bald Eagle family. Why were they helping Yang Chen short Microsoft's stock at this time?
Gates immediately asked loudly: "Is there a wrong list?"

The staff member quickly replied: "Mr. Gates, you are correct. The brokerage firm sent us the information that these institutions and individual retail investors are selling our stocks."

"Fuck! How dare they do this? Why would they do this? What's in it for them?" Gates asked several questions in a row, but no one around him dared to speak.

If Gates himself doesn't understand it, how can others possibly understand it?

Gates immediately called BlackRock's president Pacquiao and asked directly: "Mr. Pacquiao, what's going on? Why are you selling our company's stock? Do you think our company has no future, or do you think I can't beat Yang Chen? Or, do you think we can't survive this little crisis?"

Pacquiao smiled and said, "No, no, no, I am very optimistic about the future of Microsoft, so I sold it."

"What? I don't quite understand what you mean. You are very optimistic about our future, why do you want to sell it? Shouldn't you agree with me and deal with Yang Chen together?" Gates asked in confusion.

Pacquiao laughed and said, "I lent the stocks to Yang Chen. He said that after the short selling is over, he will return me the same amount of stocks and pay me a 6% commission. Mr. Gates also knows that we invested in Microsoft to make money from dividends. I have no reason not to accept Yang Chen's invitation to cooperate."

Gates immediately questioned, "Why do you believe everything he says? How can you be sure that he will succeed in short selling and return the same number of shares to you and give you 6% as a reward?"

Pacquiao smiled and said, "Because I have fought him several times, and he won every time. He did the same thing with Longguo Penguin Holdings a few days ago. We have received the same number of stocks and 6% compensation, and the share price of Penguin Holdings is also recovering rapidly. In a few days, everything will be back to normal as if nothing happened, but we have an extra 6% profit in our account. I really can't find a reason to refuse him! I suggest you don't resist anymore, you can't resist successfully. When he achieves his goal, he will pull the stock price back up, and all we have to do is wait patiently. Okay, no more, I have something else to do, I'm hanging up."

Gates stared at his phone in a daze, and it took him a long time to come back to his senses.

Gates continued to call the CEOs of other institutions and received the same answer as BlackRock President Pacquiao. Yang Chen lent them the stocks they held, and would return the same number of stocks to them after the short selling ended, and would pay them a 6% fee and guarantee to bring the stock price back up.

Gates was furious and slammed the list on the table in anger.

However, the bad things are not over yet.

Heat owner Allison called Gates directly and asked, "Mr. Gates, what's going on? Why did this happen to Microsoft at such a critical moment? Aren't you helping Yang Chen short Microsoft? The key is that our company's stock price has also plummeted along with Microsoft's stock price. I have used all my money to increase my holdings, but it can't stop the stock price from falling. What should we do now? If it continues to fall like this, I will go bankrupt. My shares have been pledged to Goldman Sachs at a high price. Once the stock price falls to the liquidation line and I can't get the money to cover the position, the pledge will be liquidated and I will become a pauper."

In order to raise funds, major shareholders of listed companies sometimes choose to pledge their shares to securities firms in exchange for funds.

The brokerage firm will calculate a minimum liquidation line based on the pledged funds and the number of stocks. Once the stock price touches this liquidation line, the position will be forced to close. The brokerage firm will obtain the funds from selling the stocks, and the shareholders will lose this part of their equity.

If the stock price rises or remains stable, shareholders only need to wait for the funds to be recovered before redeeming the pledged shares.

However, once the stock price plummets, the shares pledged by shareholders to securities firms will reach the liquidation line.

The forced liquidation line for the shares pledged by Allison to Goldman Sachs is 10 Eagle Coins. Now the share price of Carnival Cruise Line is 15 Eagle Coins, so he is so anxious.

Gates replied angrily: "Do you think I want this? I'm being backstabbed by my shareholders and I don't know what to do. And you're asking me what to do!"

Allison immediately retorted: “It was Mr. Thomson, the chairman of your group, who said he would lead us to fight back against Yang Chen. The situation has developed to this point. If you are not responsible, who will be responsible?”

Gates was already upset enough, and he became even more upset when he heard what Allison said.

"You can hold anyone responsible, it's none of my business!" Gates said impatiently and hung up the phone immediately.

Allison was furious. Seeing that the share price of Carnival Cruise Line was about to hit his pledge liquidation line, he did not dare to hope that others could save him, so he decided to compromise and admit defeat to Yang Chen.

Allison called NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and said bluntly: "Mr. Silver, I can't bear it anymore. My company's stock price is about to hit the pledged equity forced liquidation line. I must reconcile with Yang Chen immediately. I don't care what other teams choose. My Heat team is willing to go to Longguo to play a friendly match with his Sihai team. If you don't agree, we will refuse to play in the new season."

Xiao Hua immediately replied: "Mr. Allison, don't worry, we..."

Allison interrupted immediately: "Stop talking nonsense! You are not in a hurry, but I am! How am I going to live the rest of my life if I lose control of Carnival Cruise Lines?"

Xiao Hua quickly advised: "Don't worry, I..."

Allison immediately interrupted again, “Is that all you can say? How can I not be anxious? I don’t care about you anymore. I want to contact Yang Chen to seek reconciliation.”

Allison hung up the phone and called Yang Chen immediately.

Yang Chen was chatting with the five bank presidents when Allison called.

Allison greeted Yang Chen first, and then introduced himself.

Yang Chen said with a smile: "Oh, the owner of the Heat. Why are you calling me?"

Allison quickly replied, "In fact, our Heat team has always maintained a good relationship with Longguo. 15 years ago, when we recruited LeBron and Chris to come and form the Big Three with Dwyane, our Heat team had many, many fans in Longguo. For so many years, we have been looking for an opportunity to play in Longguo, but we just haven't had the right opportunity. Now Mr. Yang is willing to arrange for the NBA team to play against your Four Seas team, and our Heat team must get a place in the competition. It's all because of that idiot Xiao Hua, who insisted on being self-righteous and preventing such a good thing. I would like to make it clear here that Xiao Hua and I are not the same kind of people. The Heat team wants to play against the Four Seas team. Please help us, Mr. Yang!"

Yang Chen laughed loudly, and said, “I can tell that Mr. Allison really wants to come to play. However, you said you can’t come. The NBA needs to issue an announcement before you can. Otherwise, it won’t be fair and it won’t make sense.”

Allison begged, "Then I will contact other club owners to force Xiao Hua to agree. Is that okay? But can you please stop shorting Carnival Cruise? The shares I pledged to Goldman Sachs were liquidated at 10 Eagles, and now there is still room for a decline of 3 Eagles. I have worked hard for most of my life to make a living from Carnival Cruise. If I lose the controlling stake, I will not be able to live in the future. I beg you, okay?"

Yang Chen smiled slightly, and said: "My goal has not been achieved, and I will not end the short selling of any company. If you have time, go and find a way to convince Xiao Hua to accept my request, and you shouldn't waste your breath here with me."

Allison quickly asked again: "Mr. Yang, can we really not discuss it? I can accept your other conditions, just ask for them. Is that ok?"

Yang Chen replied: "I have only one goal, which is to get the NBA to accept my request. Other than that, even if you have the ability to give me the Eagle Fed, I don't want it."

Yang Chen hung up the phone, and Allison quickly called other club owners who were shorted to join forces to force Xiao Hua to step down.

At this time, the investment manager of Longguo Bank said loudly: "Mr. Yang, we have completed shorting a total of 1 million shares of UWM Credit Corporation, with an average price of 8.89 Eagle Coins." UMW Credit Corporation is the company of Matt Ishbia, owner of the Phoenix Suns. The company is the number one credit company in the Bald Eagle family.

Then, the ICBC investment manager said loudly: "Mr. Yang, we have completed the short sale of Rocket Company, a total of 5000 million shares, with an average price of 23.56 Eagle Coins."

Rocket is the mortgage company of Bald Eagle. Its subsidiary Quicken Loans is very famous. Fans who like the Cleveland Cavaliers should all know that the Cavaliers' home stadium is called Quicken Loans Arena, and the Cavaliers owner Gilbert is the owner of Rocket.

Then the Agricultural Bank investment manager said loudly: "Mr. Yang, we have completed the short sale of Amway, a total of 1.2 million shares, with an average price of 18.34 Eagle Coins."

Richard DeVos, one of the founders of Amway, is the owner of the Orlando Magic.

The CCB investment manager immediately reported: "Mr. Yang, we have completed the short selling of UBNT, a total of 5600 million shares, with an average price of 165.46 Eagle Coins."

UBNT is the Ubiquiti Technology Company of the Bald Eagle family, which mainly manufactures and sells network cable equipment. The company's founder, Robert Pera, is the owner of the Memphis Grizzlies.

Finally, the investment manager of the merchant bank also reported: "Mr. Yang, we have completed the short selling of Apollo Global Management, totaling 8000 million shares, with an average price of 175.35 Eagle Coins."

Joshua Harris, co-founder of Apollo Global Management, is the owner of the Philadelphia 76ers.

Yang Chen smiled and nodded, and said: "Everyone has done a good job. It's getting late, everyone can go home and rest. We will continue tomorrow night."

Yang Chen can go home and sleep happily, but the NBA owners who were shorted are in trouble.

Xiao Hua's phone was bombarded with calls from his bosses, so he had to turn off the phone to avoid them.

When the bosses couldn't get through to Silver, they called the league office, but the league office staff couldn't make the decision. No matter what the bosses asked, they had no answer.

The bosses couldn't stand it anymore, so they agreed to fly to New York to find Xiao Hua.

The first person to arrive at Silver's office was New York Knicks owner Dolan. Dolan was entrusted by other bosses, so he had to stop Silver in the office and not let him leave, waiting for other bosses to fly over one after another.

At 7:30 p.m. local time, with the arrival of Clippers owner Ballmer, all NBA owners arrived.

The most emotional person was Miami Heat owner Allison. The share price of his Carnival Cruise Lines had fallen below 10 Eagle Coins. He mortgaged his property and borrowed money from friends to supplement 10 billion Eagle Coins to Goldman Sachs, so that his shares were not forcibly liquidated.

However, the latest forced liquidation line for his pledged equity is 8.86 Eagle Coins. If Yang Chen does not stop short selling and the stock price continues to fall when it opens tomorrow, the equity he pledged to Goldman Sachs will be forced to liquidate.

So, it is understandable why he was the most excited.

Allison's face was gloomy, and his tone was low. He said, "I don't want to say any nonsense to you. Agree to Yang Chen's request immediately. If you don't want to play the game, I will let the Heat play the game. I don't mind the shame! We will hold the game in the form of friendly matches and exhibition matches, and will not play the game in the name of preseason games. But the NBA must issue a notice to announce this matter. This is a hard requirement of Yang Chen, and there is no room for negotiation. Xiao Hua, I'm not kidding you. If my equity is forcibly liquidated, I will fight you to the death!"

Silver didn't say anything. He didn't dare to deny Allison's words, and he didn't want to do what Allison said.

Knicks owner Dolan immediately said: "I've talked to you until my mouth is dry, and I don't want to say anything more. Anyway, you have to accept Yang Chen's request, otherwise I will refuse the team to participate in the new season."

Lakers owner Jeanie Buss said: "You can't do this. Are you going to cause a lockout because of a Chinese? Your behavior will be nailed to the pillar of shame. In the future, fans will definitely laugh at you when they talk about the NBA lockout and this lockout."

Allison didn't give Jeanie Buss any face and immediately said, "Shut up! You don't have any listed companies under your name, so of course you can talk without any worries. If you see your wealth decreasing day by day, and you may even lose the controlling stake in the company, you will be more panicked than us!"

Brooklyn Nets owner Tsai Xin said: "Although Yang Chen did not short sell the companies I hold shares in, such as Arigaba, I am willing to support the opinions of Allison, Dolan and other owners. I don't want it to be my turn tomorrow. I can't bear to see my wealth drop by at least 20% in one day."

Clippers owner Ballmer said, "I've lost 400 billion Eagle Dollars in the past two days. Even if Gates does something, he can't save Microsoft's stock price. I don't know how much it will drop tomorrow. I have a bad heart and can't stand this kind of stimulation. I don't care what Gates chooses. I agree with Dolan and others. Mr. Silver, please call Yang Chen immediately to request a settlement! Damn, 400 billion Eagle Dollars are gone. Until I die, the Clippers will never be able to make back one tenth of my loss."

Afterwards, the owners of other teams that were shorted asked Silver to accept Yang Chen's request. The remaining team owners who were not shorted, except Jeanie Buss of the Lakers, all remained silent.

What Clippers owner Ballmer said is absolutely right. Even if they run the team until the day they die, they will not be able to make back the money they lost in the stock market in the past two days.

Xiao Hua knew clearly what the consequences would be if he continued to insist on his own opinion. It was not easy for these bosses to touch Yang Chen, but it was easy to hire a killer to kill him.

There are a lot of guns in Bald Eagle's home, and he might be shot dead while walking on the street one day.

After a long silence, Xiao Hua finally spoke.

"I understand the difficulties you are facing. But we also have to think about the future. Once we send our team to play against the Sihai team, the brand value of the NBA will definitely be weakened. The price of our next broadcast contract will definitely not be much higher, and sponsors will also reduce their sponsorship fees. Have you considered these losses?"

Allen, the owner of the Trail Blazers, immediately said, "Because of the sharp drop in Microsoft's stock price in the past two days, our wealth has lost 80 billion Eagle coins. How many years will it take us to earn it back by running the team? How about 100 years? Tell me which one has a greater loss?"

Xiao Hua sighed, and then said: "Then I will call Mr. Gates to talk. If Mr. Gates says there is really no other way, then...then I will agree to Yang Chen's request."

Ballmer immediately said, "There's no need for you to make this call! Gates has used up all the money he can mobilize, and Microsoft's stock price has fallen another 20% today. BlackRock has lent all the stocks of those companies to Yang Chen, and Yang Chen has enough stocks to sell to suppress the stock price. Even if Gates puts all his wealth into it, including the wealth of Allen and me, it will be useless."

Silver still didn't give up. He hoped that Gates, the idol of entrepreneurs all over the world, could turn the tide and save the company from collapse at this time.

The call is connected.

"Hello, Mr. Gates, do you have any other solution? Can Microsoft's stock price be pulled back up?" Silver asked.

Gates said angrily, "Stop asking me, okay? I don't even know how to get the stock price back! He wants you to send a team to play, so why don't you just send a few rubbish teams to deal with it? Tell me why you are so stubborn? Do you know how much wealth everyone has lost because of your wrong decision?"

Xiao Hua: “…”

I rely on!

How can a human being be like this?

Before, Microsoft Chairman Thompson vowed that he could lead everyone to defeat Yang Chen, and it was he who forced the NBA not to lower their prices to play against the Sihai team.

Now that he finds that he cannot stop Yang Chen from shorting, the responsibility should be put on Xiao Hua?

Mudd!

I won’t take the blame!
“Mr. Gates, it’s wrong for you to say that. It was Microsoft Chairman Thompson who forced us not to accept Yang Chen’s request, and he also promised to lead us to defeat Yang Chen. He also said that at worst, he would let you do it yourself, and he could absolutely guarantee that there would be no mistakes. Now that you can’t deal with Yang Chen, you throw the blame to me? This is not the way you should behave and do things.” Xiao Hua said very aggrievedly.

Gates said mercilessly: "Don't play innocent with me! You don't want to do it yourself, and neither do the team owners. Now that you've been taught a lesson, you want to pass the buck to us? Do you still want the sponsorship fee?"

Given Gates' status and position, he naturally didn't want to talk to Silver any more and just hung up the phone.

Looking at the bosses who were eyeing him covetously, Xiao Hua had no choice but to compromise.

"Okay, okay, I'll call Yang Chen to seek reconciliation." Xiao Hua said helplessly.

The bosses who were shorted immediately breathed a sigh of relief, hoping that Yang Chen would accept the settlement and stop shorting their companies as soon as the market opened tomorrow.

However, at this time, Lakers owner Jeanie Buss stood up angrily and said, "I disagree! They can't beat Yang Chen because of their own incompetence, so they should bear the loss. The league is not only their league, but also the league of our other teams. Why should the league sacrifice the interests of other teams in order to take care of their interests? Other owners should stand up and join me in opposing the league from doing things that lower its status and affect its brand value!"

Other team owners who do not control public companies have responded.

"The Kings are with the Lakers!"

"The Jazz and the Lakers are with us!"

"The Rockets are with the Lakers!"

……

Heat owner Allison immediately cursed: "Did you guys do this on purpose?"

Jeanie Buss immediately responded: "Mr. Allison, please watch your mouth. If you don't learn how to talk to people, you can go home and ask your son to teach you how to communicate with others!"

NBA bosses quickly split into two factions, and both sides started to curse at each other.

When Xiao Hua saw this scene, he regretted so much that he wanted to die.

If he had known earlier, he would have agreed to Yang Chen’s request, and things wouldn’t have turned out like this.

Xiao Hua shouted, "Quiet! Quiet! We have been partners for many years. Is it really necessary to turn it into this?"

Jenny Buss said: "In short, I don't agree with this behavior that harms the collective interests!"

Allison said angrily, "You can't stop us from living, right? Since you don't care about our lives, the NBA has no need to exist. I'm going to call back and order the manager to issue a notice that the Heat will withdraw from the NBA! Damn, the NBA has nothing to do with me anymore. Yang Chen won't continue to short my company, right?"

Allison immediately called team manager Pat Riley.

"Hey, Pat, please make an announcement immediately that the Heat are withdrawing from the NBA!"

(End of this chapter)