The next day, all the money William earned in the futures market safely arrived in his account at the Swiss National Bank. Looking at the account balance displayed on the computer, William jumped up happily and cheerfully signed ten checks for 7 million US dollars each for the ten traders.
After signing a supplementary confidentiality agreement, these guys eagerly packed up their personal belongings with their checks and ran off.
They hadn't been home for three months and hadn't even called. Now they were eager to go home to their wives and children. The three who didn't have wives or children had already arranged to travel; beautiful women and beaches were waiting for them.
Meanwhile, Strong Grace, the vice president of the National Bank, watched with a regretful expression as William distributed bonuses to the bank's traders in the VIP room.
He wanted to slap himself hard now. He regretted that when William made his first 32 million US dollars, he didn't strongly follow his intuition in the board meeting to raise a sum of money to short with William. He regretted even more not listening to William's advice to give him a sum of money to operate.
Although William didn't tell him explicitly, what kind of person was he? How could he not understand William's hints? He was full of regret! He was so angry last night that he didn't sleep a wink. If he had given William 1 million back then, it would have turned into 10 million now. Ten times! How many years would it take me to earn that much money? How many years would it take to encounter such a godsend opportunity?
He prided himself on being a strong player, but when the opportunity was right in front of him, he didn't seize it. He watched others make a fortune while he didn't even get a chance to pick up crumbs. Nothing was more painful than this.
Strong Grace wished he could empty a magazine into the bank board members who had opposed his proposal back then. They watched William make over 3 billion US dollars, but they didn't get a single penny. The agreement signed back then was a gambling agreement; if William won, it had nothing to do with their bank. The worst part was that the National Bank took the wrong side in this stock market crash and lost several hundred million US dollars.
After William smilingly saw off the traders, he looked at Strong Grace, who was forcing a smile, and said with amusement, "Strong, is something wrong? Or are you here to congratulate me? It's a shame you didn't invest some money with me back then."
Strong Grace's face twitched, and his heart was bleeding, but he was here today on a mission and had to pretend to be happy as he congratulated, "Congratulations, Mr. Devonshire. You are the greatest genius I have ever seen in my fifty-plus years of life. No Englishman dares to call you a madman anymore. These days, most of the newspapers in England are debating how much money you made in this stock market crash.
Reporters are now frantically looking for you, Mr. Devonshire. I feel you are more composed than an old man like me in his fifties. If it were me, I would definitely tell them openly and see if those who mocked you would feel the pain in their faces."
After listening, William understood that this old guy, Strong Grace, was envious and wanted to gain some benefits from him. Damn it, to gain benefits from him and salvage their losses, he even abandoned his dignity and directly used the media to threaten him.
Fortunately, he had a confidentiality agreement with the bank, and the bank dared not disclose specific details because the principle of confidentiality is the foundation of survival for all Swiss banks. But this old guy in front of William was another matter. After all, the National Bank was the National Bank, and Strong Grace was Strong Grace.
Betrayal has a price. When the money reaches a certain amount, William wasn't confident that Strong Grace would uphold professional ethics. In fact, for just a few million US dollars, Strong Grace might even sell his operation details as a secret to those who didn't know better.
He and Strong Grace didn't have a confidentiality agreement, and as long as it was done discreetly, such a thing would be impossible to prove. With a few million US dollars, he could simply retire.
"Alright, Strong, let's get to the point. I don't believe you came to flatter me today, but don't go too far. Enough US dollars can do a lot of things," William said with a serious face and a hint of threat in his voice.
Strong Grace saw William's stiff tone and direct speech and realized that his visit today had caused this billionaire to misunderstand.
He had never thought of betraying William. Having been in the business for decades, he understood even more that when money reached a certain level, its power was more terrifying than authority.
Strong Grace regretted it greatly, not expecting William's reaction to be so intense. Damn it, he was just envious, and he was certainly not foolish enough to want to completely infuriate William. There were plenty of people outside who would kill his entire family for a few million US dollars.
Fortunately, he was still an old hand. He quickly adjusted his mindset and said with a smile, "You can rest assured, Mr. Devonshire, I have professional ethics. I am your contact person at the National Bank, and I guarantee that no one on the board except me will know your profits from this operation. I absolutely did not mean to threaten you.
At this point, Strong Grace stammered a bit, then looked at William with a look of shame and said, "The National Bank suffered too much loss in this stock market crash, and there is a huge dispute on the board about whether the stock market will fall further or rebound. I know your understanding of the US stock market must be very high, otherwise, you wouldn't have entered the market when the stock index was at its highest. So, I came this time hoping you could give me some information to serve as a reference for our bank's future operations."
William looked into Strong Grace's eyes, which were clear, bright, and showed no trace of panic. Damn it, this old guy's acting was really good. If he hadn't sensed his heart beating violently with his mental power, he might have really been fooled by this old guy.
William pondered silently. He wasn't afraid that someone would truly know he made a fortune in the stock market crash, because he had already inoculated the public with this information a few months ago. People had already accepted the fact that he would make a lot of money. At worst, he could hide in the ancient castle in Oxford and keep a low profile for a few years; time would make the public forget many things.
Moreover, he indeed needed to be low-key. He didn't want the public's attention to be focused on him at this time. Many red-eyed individuals and people with ulterior motives would definitely slander, curse, and even frame him.
What's more troublesome is that most of the public is blind. If his achievements this time are excessively hyped, then whatever stocks he buys in the future, the public will follow suit, and he will be under the constant scrutiny of stock market regulators. Any acquisition will be meticulously inspected and delayed, which will greatly affect his future operations in the stock market.
Knowing which stocks will surge in the future, but the regulatory agencies delay his transactions under the guise of review, would truly drive him crazy.
Thinking of this, William had no choice but to find a way to appease Strong Grace. "Alright, Mr. Grace, I understand why you're here, but Mr. Grace, at this point in the stock market, I don't think even God himself could accurately predict its specific trend. No one can know at what point it will rise or fall, am I right, Mr. Grace?"
Strong Grace nodded as a matter of course. William wasn't a god. Before the stock market crash, it was still possible to find some clues and take a gamble. But after the crash, no one could accurately predict the specific index points.
"According to my judgment, the advice I can give you is that I believe at this point in the stock market, a moderate rebound is inevitable, but the overall downward trend in the next one or two years is irreversible. I believe it's absolutely no problem for the US stock market to fall below 2000 points, and it's even possible for it to fall below 1500 points."
Before William could continue, Strong Grace was scared half to death by William's words and stammered, "H-h-how is that possible? Your conclusion is truly too crazy. The US stock market value has already fallen by over 30%. If it falls to 1500 points, wouldn't that mean a 70% drop in market value? God, if that really happens, how many people would be forced to jump off buildings?"
Strong Grace's hands trembled, frightened by the scene in his mind, and he kept wiping the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief.
Strong Grace grabbed William's arm and said in a panic, "So you think a stock market crash is unavoidable? God, this is truly the worst news I've heard these past few days."
But William was now the victor, and Strong Grace had to take everything he said seriously.