That same afternoon, Zane's team worked for a few more hours in the Japanese yen market. After giving Henry some final instructions, Zane left the office.
He knew they could still make money in Japan, but the really big profits were gone. The market had been hit so hard that the money left was just... smaller.
It was still easy to make hundreds of thousands of dollars a day.
But... a few hundred thousand? That just wasn't exciting anymore. Zane, and all the other big players like Soros, were hungry for more.
One of Soros's old workers once said in an interview: "During that time, every bank on Wall Street was both crazy and anxious. We were crazy because it felt like picking up free money. We were anxious because if we waited too long, someone else would pick up the money first!"
The smaller banks were very upset. What could they do?
They turned their eyes away from Japan... and looked at its neighbor, South Korea.
The moment they looked, they found out that South Korea's money market was in even worse shape than Japan's.
To the big banks, South Korea was like a beautiful treasure chest with no lock on it. It was full of leaks.
South Korea had grown very, very fast. In the 1950s, it was a poor, backward country. But now, its money market was huge.
But it was a weird kind of growth. It was all full of holes.
Here's why: For a normal, healthy country, the amount of money banks lend out is usually about 15% of the country's total GDP (all the money it makes in a year).
But in South Korea, the banks were lending out 115% to 200% of the GDP. That was 9 to 13 times more than a normal country!
The banks were being very messy. The whole system was immature. So, companies in Korea had to borrow all their money from these banks.
The banks just kept lending more and more money, even when they knew the loans were bad. These bad loans were called "non-performing assets."
In South Korea, these bad loans made up 34% to 40% of the whole country's GDP.
Do you know how bad that is?
The big 2008 money crisis in America was super fierce, right? But even then, the banks' bad loans were only 25% of the GDP.
"My gosh!" Zane thought. "Your country's money market is that messy? If you don't get cleaned up, even God will be upset!"
So, all the big money players quietly pulled their money out of Japan and started moving it to South Korea. They all started making bets against the South Korean won (their money).
Zane's company, Gale Capital, did the same thing.
...
Since the big battle in South Korea hadn't started yet, Zane decided to give himself a break. He went to the movies.
And, of course, he went to see The Sixth Sense, the new movie his own company had made.
What? You think he already saw it?
You're right! He had seen it a bunch of times. He didn't really want to go again.
But... someone had invited him, and she was very enthusiastic. Since Zane had the day off, he smiled and said yes.
...
He went to the Trios Cinema, a big, famous theater in New York City.
"Hi, Zane!"
Zane had just gotten out of his car when he saw a young girl in a floral dress waving at him.
"Hi, Scarlett! Wow, you look great," Zane said, giving the girl a friendly hug.
That's right! The person who invited him was the young, future superstar... Scarlett Johansson!
"Zane, the famous Mr. Blackwood," she said, teasing him. "A beautiful girl is inviting you to the movies. Are you happy?"
"Eh, it's just so-so," Zane said, trying to act all cool and proud.
"What? You're not happy?" Scarlett pouted, acting angry, which just made her look super cute.
She was only 14 years old and pretty short, but she was full of life and just adorable.
He just thought of her as a kid.
They got tickets, sat down, and watched the movie. It was over in less than two hours.
...Okay, it turned out to be just hamburgers!
"Zane, you are really stingy," Scarlett said to him as they said goodbye.
He was so embarrassed! He almost spit out his drink.
Yes, Zane was a very careful person with money, but he could afford a nice meal! He had just made so much money. A meal for a few hundred or even a few thousand dollars was nothing to him.
But...
"Darn it," Zane thought, his face red. "I wasn't trying to be cheap! I really forgot my wallet! Ugh! Now I have the reputation of a miser again!" He was so embarrassed.
...
When Scarlett Johansson got home, her agent was waiting for her.
"Scarlett, why are you back so early? Where is Mr. Blackwood?" the agent asked.
Scarlett just sighed. "Kena, can you believe it? him. That guy meets me... and then forgets his wallet?"
Agent: "..."
The agent knew why Scarlett had asked Zane to the movies. She knew he was in New York, and she had dressed up all nice. It wasn't just for fun.
Zane's most attractive quality wasn't just his looks. It was that he was a rich... and the boss of a movie company.
...
The next day, at 9 a.m. sharp...
Zane was fast asleep in his hotel when his phone rang, waking him up. It was Victor.
"Boss! Boss, wake up! Our movie... 'The Sixth Sense' is a monster hit!"
"What?" Zane said, sitting up, suddenly wide awake.
"The box office!" Victor was shouting now, he was so happy. "The box office on its first day... Boss, it made over $36 million! It's Number 1 on the daily box office chart!"
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