Chapter 411 5.3 Billion in Available Funds, Stunned by His Own Wealth!
As time passed, it was inevitable that Apple's stock price would eventually exhaust its short-term momentum after such rapid rises.
Moreover, with the Apple III suffering from poor sales and serious defects, a stock price correction was almost guaranteed.
Thus, Lin Haoran's strategy was simple: sell as early as possible.
Even if he didn't lose money by holding onto the stock, the growth potential over the next decade was simply too limited.
Holding for ten-plus years only to see a few times increase? That wasn't worth it to him.
It made far more sense to cash out now, pocket 300 million dollars, and reinvest elsewhere — turning that into 30 billion dollars or more over the next few decades.
Another night quickly passed.
The next morning, Lin Haoran, as usual, headed to Universal Investment Company's office.
The other traders each had their own tasks assigned: short-term trading operations.
Simply put: buying low and selling high to generate quick profits.
However, Su Zhixue's goal wasn't just about immediate profits.
More importantly, he wanted the team, freshly arrived from Hong Kong, to familiarize themselves with the operations of the American stock market.
After all, this was a completely different environment compared to Hong Kong.
Through these hands-on trades, the team would quickly adapt and lay a solid foundation for the company's long-term success.
As for Walmart, their performance on the stock market was relatively average.
Plus, Su Zhixue's team, seasoned veterans from Hong Kong, were experts at operating covertly without being detected.
By the end of the day, they had quietly absorbed about 0.82% of Walmart's shares — not a massive amount, but a good start.
Lin Haoran's instruction was simple: absorb as much Walmart stock as possible, without setting any upper limit!
As for triggering any merger or acquisition disclosure rules?
That was avoided entirely because they used multiple offshore entities to discreetly acquire the shares.
Even the U.S. authorities wouldn't be able to trace it back to Lin Haoran.
He had no intention of controlling Walmart.
Trying to manage Walmart would destroy its potential.
Launching a takeover from Hong Kong's Wellcome supermarket chain?
Impossible — this was the United States, not Hong Kong.
Even if he had the capacity, the U.S. government would never allow it.
Thus, Lin Haoran's strategy was simple:
Don't interfere with Walmart's development at all.
Let it grow freely, just as it had in the other world.
Then, when Walmart's market value reached several hundred billion dollars, he could quietly cash out — easy and painless.
Lin Haoran wasn't obsessed with control.
Unless it was truly necessary, he preferred being a silent investor, especially in America, where nationality mattered.
He wasn't American and had no plans to immigrate.
He loved living in Hong Kong and had no intention of changing that unless absolutely forced to.
If he ever did consider immigration, Singapore would be his first choice, not the U.S.
After chatting with Su Zhixue, the front desk informed Lin Haoran that visitors had arrived.
As expected, it was the five representatives from the financial groups interested in buying his Apple shares.
Within half an hour, all five had arrived.
Lin Haoran personally greeted them and led them into a spacious conference room.
A long table stood at the center, surrounded by comfortable chairs.
On the walls, abstract paintings added a modern touch to the room.
"Gentlemen, welcome! Please have a seat," Lin Haoran said warmly as he sat at the head of the table.
The five representatives quickly took their seats, glancing warily at one another.
They were all here for the same reason — to win the deal.
Lin Haoran observed them calmly.
"Mr. Lin, we're eager to begin. May we start the bidding?" one impatient representative asked — none other than Thomas Morton's man.
Thomas Morton had regretted hesitating during their earlier negotiation.
Now, the price had risen, and Lin Haoran had every right to adjust his expectations upward.
Seeing their eagerness, Lin Haoran nodded and signaled for his assistant to distribute the bidding rules.
The rules were simple:
Starting bid: $300 million.Each bid increase: no more than $1 million per round.The highest bidder wins.
Just a few days earlier, when Apple first went public, Lin Haoran's target price had only been around $200 million.
But now, with the stock's surge, his minimum price had risen to $300 million — equivalent to an extra 500 million Hong Kong dollars!
An unexpected and delightful bonus.
After all, even with his current net worth exceeding 20 billion Hong Kong dollars, half a billion was still a considerable sum.
"Alright, let's begin," Lin Haoran said with a smile.
The first representative immediately called out: "300 million dollars!"
The second followed quickly: "305 million dollars!"
The third jumped in: "306 million dollars!"
Judging from the modest increases, Lin Haoran could tell that their top budgets weren't unlimited.
Still, every extra million was pure profit to him.
The fourth representative stayed silent — clearly, the bidding had already exceeded his limit.
The fifth representative boldly shouted: "310 million dollars!"
The atmosphere in the room instantly tightened.
All eyes turned toward the fifth bidder.
Seeing the tension, Lin Haoran smiled faintly but didn't speak.
He was satisfied — but curious if the bids would rise even higher.
Sure enough, the third representative took a deep breath and offered: "315 million dollars!"
Another round of gasps.
Adding five million dollars at once — in U.S. dollars — was no small leap.
The fifth representative hesitated briefly, then countered: "320 million dollars!"
By now, Lin Haoran's heart was glowing with satisfaction.
He had already exceeded his earlier 300 million dollar target by 20 million — equivalent to more than 100 million Hong Kong dollars.
Finally, the first representative gathered his courage and called out: "325 million dollars!"
The room fell into stunned silence.
The other four representatives clearly recognized that this was the ceiling.
Lin Haoran smiled.
Looking at the representative from the Morton family, he silently marveled at their wealth and determination.
They clearly believed strongly in Apple's future to be willing to bid so aggressively.
After a pause, Lin Haoran stood and announced:
"Congratulations to the Morton Family's representative.
You have successfully secured the purchase rights to 587.2 million Apple shares for $325 million.
For the other four gentlemen, please convey my sincere thanks to your respective principals.
Although we couldn't cooperate this time, I look forward to potential future collaborations."
The other four representatives left reluctantly — but accepted the outcome.
In business, success and failure were natural.
The deal was witnessed by a top-tier legal team.
By noon, Lin Haoran had received the full $325 million transfer from the Morton family.
At the same time, he handed over the certificates for his Apple shares.
The transaction was complete — and Lin Haoran was no longer an Apple shareholder.
Given the dollar's appreciation, the exchange rate had risen to about 5.3 Hong Kong dollars per U.S. dollar.
Thus, Lin Haoran's proceeds from selling his Apple shares amounted to approximately 1.723 billion Hong Kong dollars.
Considering his original investment of just $10 million — about 50 million Hong Kong dollars at the time —
his final return had reached an astonishing 34x!
Combined with the 3.6 billion Hong Kong dollars raised from selling land and properties under Wanching Group, Lin Haoran now had more than 5.3 billion Hong Kong dollars in liquid assets.
And that wasn't even counting the over 10 billion Hong Kong dollars of funds accessible from Land Holdings Group.
Calculating everything, even Lin Haoran himself was stunned by his newfound wealth!
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