Once market confidence is shaken, it's very difficult to restore, forcing many tech companies to pull out all the stops to buy back their own shares to regain investor confidence. This tactic was quite effective; although the Nasdaq was falling, it hadn't reached the point of collapse yet.
But things were no longer that simple; short-selling capital would not let go of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Everything was an unspoken power struggle.
William, however, only needed to watch quietly from the sidelines. Throughout late March and early April, William didn't leave the National Bank's VIP room. He no longer had time for Alexandra.
He spent all day discussing with his subordinates. In nearly a month, the Nasdaq had fallen by over 430 points, earning him more than a billion US dollars in just one month.
Alexandra, who hadn't seen William for many days, finally couldn't resist coming to the bank to find him. The ordinary William also couldn't resist showing off his achievements to his goddess.
After hearing that William had already earned 1 billion US dollars, Alexandra clung to William every day for the next few days, constantly urging him to quit while he was ahead. She even had a big fight with William, sulking and saying she was going back to Brazil.
William would not back out now for anything, nor would he abandon everything to go to Brazil with Alexandra at this moment. He would only leave if his wife was giving birth or his mother was ill, because tomorrow was the announcement date of the outcome of the Microsoft antitrust case. This was the moment of the final battle, the moment for the Devlinshire family's wealth to skyrocket, and the best opportunity for the Devlinshire family's wealth to reach the top in England.
After reluctantly sending Alexandra away, William focused wholeheartedly on the Nasdaq and any developments in America. Everything unfolded as William hoped; in April, a federal judge announced that evidence collected proved Microsoft indeed engaged in monopolistic behavior.
The court's announcement of the Microsoft antitrust investigation results was the true beginning of the US stock market crash.
At that time, Microsoft's market value was incredibly high, at 600 billion US dollars. If Microsoft were to be broken up, how much money would be lost? For those who bought Microsoft stock with loans and high leverage, this was truly a bolt from the blue. If Microsoft were to be broken up, how many people would go bankrupt because of Microsoft's stock?
As soon as this news broke, ordinary investors holding Microsoft shares began to panic, leading to a massive wave of sell orders. The stock market immediately began to fall, and the exchange's computers couldn't keep up with processing the orders.
The exchange saw a repeat of 1987, with a large backlog of pending orders. This sight further intensified investor panic. By mid-May, the Nasdaq had plummeted from 5048 points on March 10th to 3500 points on May 14th.
William, who had opened three-month index futures in March, began selling his futures when the Nasdaq was around 3700 points in May. By the time the three months were up, he had sold all his futures contracts. William held the report Phillips handed him.
He was indescribably excited; this time, his futures contracts averaged a selling point of over 3600 points. The Nasdaq dropped a total of 1400 points during his contract period, and for every point it dropped, William earned 2.44 million US dollars. This time, he earned a total of 34.16 billion US dollars, plus his initial capital of 3.5 billion and an additional margin of 0.82 billion US dollars.
After the contract settlement, he had a total of 38.48 billion US dollars in cash, two-thirds of which he earned from the island nation. William felt great just thinking about it.
Then he thought about having to pay taxes, which made William's heart and liver ache. Although he didn't know how much he would have to pay, it would definitely be several hundred million, which was truly unbearable. Damn it, William didn't dare not pay.
If you don't pay such a large sum of money, you'll be globally wanted. The tax department will send dozens, even hundreds, of people to monitor you 24/7 worldwide. They will watch your every move, and any companies or individuals you have business dealings with will also be monitored. In some cases, they might even directly arrest people.
In short, in Europe, America, and some parts of Asia (excluding certain regions), the Federal Tax Bureau is the most powerful, ruthless, and difficult agency in America. They have their own troops and law enforcement personnel, and they don't even need to report to relevant agencies. If they disagree, they will arrest people, freeze assets, then fine you, throw you in jail, and drag you through lawsuits for years, even decades, until you're exhausted.
If William wanted to live in Europe or America, he wouldn't dare to go against them. If he still wanted to invest in those companies that were destined to flourish in the US in the future, he couldn't do that. It would be too easy for the Federal Tax Bureau to ruin his plans; a simple suspicion of tax evasion could block any of William's investment intentions in the US.
If you want to hold more than 5% of a company's shares in the US, you have to report it to the US government, and the transaction needs to be approved by some federal committees. At that time, with a suspicion of tax evasion, William wouldn't even think about investing in the US.
Just like the founder of Facebook, who only held 14% of the shares, faced constant trouble after changing his nationality to Singapore to avoid taxes.
It seems I need to have a good discussion with my lawyer and the National Bank. Taxes still need to be paid, but there are many ways to pay them and where to pay them. Otherwise, how could there be so many lawyers in Europe and America? Although lawyer fees are expensive, these lawyers do help you save money legally.
Although there will be some troubles later, that's for the future. William looked at the excited crowd in the VIP trading room, walked to a table, clapped his hands, and said:
"Thank you for your hard work and dedication over these three months, guys. You truly deserve to be happy. I will give 1% of this profit as your extra bonus. That means in three months, each of you 11 people will receive nearly 7 million US dollars in income. Congratulations, guys, you are all millionaires now! Now, cheer and celebrate to your heart's content!"
"Hooray, hooray, Mr. Devonshire!"
"Oh my god, I'm going to Hollywood, to the open-air baths in Brazil, to the beach with beautiful women! Wait for me!"
William, who had just announced the bonuses, had to play the bad guy and remind them: "Alright, guys, don't forget to keep it confidential when you're happy. Don't forget to watch your mouths."
"No problem, I won't even tell my wife or parents. I guarantee not a single shred of news will get out," everyone swore and promised.
"Then, guys, once all my money is back in the National Bank account, it's time for you to split the money and travel. Get to work, guys!" William clapped his hands and instructed.
"No problem, boss, we guarantee it will be in the account tomorrow!" Phillips patted his chest and promised.
William nodded, picked up the phone, and called his private lawyer, Anthony.
"Hello, boss, do you have any instructions?" Anthony's voice came from the phone.
William said, "Anthony, how's my castle coming along? Three months should be enough for the renovation, right?"
"Of course, boss. There are plenty of professional construction companies that can't get work now. We found three of the best design companies. Your mother, Mrs. Devonshire, has been overseeing the castle's construction progress in Oxford for these three months. The main structure and interior of the castle have already been renovated. It will only take a few more days for some of the lawns, woods, and fountains outside the castle to be completed. Congratulations, Mr. Devonshire, now all of England knows that you have bought back the Devonshire family's ancient castle."
"Thank you, Anthony. I have a tax case involving several hundred million US dollars. Is your firm interested in taking it?" William said.
"Several hundred million US dollars in taxes? Boss, you made so much in the stock market! God, boss, you must be God's illegitimate son! Of course, we're interested! Boss, do you want us to go to Switzerland or wait for you in England?" Anthony said excitedly.
"Just wait for me in England. I'll go straight back to Oxford in a couple of days. I'll be waiting for you at the ancient castle," William said.
"Understood, boss."
William hung up the phone and said to Phillips, "Call the restaurant for food delivery. Tomorrow, after the money arrives, everyone can take their money and enjoy life. Your house arrest will be lifted after one more day."
Phillips smiled and said to William, "It's alright, boss. Everyone understands the importance of confidentiality. Besides, this whole operation was successful because of your decisions, boss. Just by following your instructions to buy and sell for three months, they can earn 7 million US dollars. Everyone is happy and understands your approach, boss."
"It's good that you all understand, haha. I don't know if there will be such a good opportunity again in the future," William said.
He didn't know if the stock market would be the same as in his previous life. This success still had a lot of luck involved. The inertia of history was still very strong. This time, because of his involvement, the Nasdaq fell more than 100 points more than in his previous life.
Although William felt that the general direction wouldn't change in the future, it would be impossible to operate with such precision, down to a few points, as this time. History had already changed.
Operating futures with high leverage carries extremely high risks. A rise or fall of dozens of points can lead to liquidation, and if there are no buyers to take over, losing all capital is a normal occurrence.
The opportunity to get rich overnight was gone, but there were still many opportunities in the stock market. The US stock market would fluctuate for more than a year, falling all the way to over 1400 points. At that time, buying shares of promising companies at low prices and waiting for the US stock market to appreciate would multiply William's assets by several or even dozens of times. Although it would take a long time, he wouldn't have to be as anxious as this time. William believed that he would definitely be the richest man in England in a dozen years, and perhaps even the richest man in the world. William felt wonderful just thinking about it; a beautiful life was waiting for him.