The next day.

Herbalife's stock price soared to $1,500, but soon slipped to $1,350 by the end of the day.

Afterward, the stock price dropped sharply, and the short squeeze that had shocked the world effectively came to an end within 48 hours.

However, the aftermath of this issue didn’t end so easily.

Broadcasts and media outlets continued to spotlight the incident with enthusiastic coverage.

[A historic event where individual investors toppled Wall Street giant Ackman! It was a miraculous drama of David fighting against massive capital. This is an event that will be remembered in economic history!]

This short squeeze was different from past events.

In that it was a rebellion of the little guys against Wall Street, it was worthy of being recorded as a historical event, not just a happening.

And at the center of this drama was one individual.

[This incident would never have occurred if it weren't for Ha Si-heon.]

[That's right. You could even call this his official debut. Until now, there were concerns that Ha Si-heon was overrated for his actual ability, but with this one move, he silenced all doubts. Such a dramatic debut—it's unprecedented!]

[Yes, it usually takes years, even over a decade, to achieve this level of recognition and success… but Ha Si-heon reached that level in his youth, and in just half a year since establishing his fund. He can only be called a genius!]

The world is always captivated by geniuses.

And through this incident, Ha Si-heon clearly proved he was one of them.

[A successful fund manager needs a variety of qualities—cold analytical skills, unwavering patience, insightful perception… but what’s interesting is that Ha Si-heon is an investor who brings a whole other dimension.]

[An unimaginable strategy of countering a short with another short, the insight to detect a scam that no one else noticed, and even the morality to protect drug prices for rare disease patients…! This kind of combination is extremely rare.]

[Ha Si-heon’s popularity has now reached beyond admiration, bordering on religious fervor. At a time like this, with Occupy Wall Street protests happening and deep distrust in the financial sector, a hedge fund manager beloved by the public—this too is unprecedented!]

Hedge fund managers are often symbols of greed and the targets of public criticism.

But Ha Si-heon was the exception.

He was a fighter who battled for rare disease treatments, and a hero who brought victory and joy to countless retail investors.

On WSB and social media, posts verifying profits and worshipful messages about Ha Si-heon continued to flood in.

Most were about success stories investing in Herbalife, but some involved hitting the jackpot with put options on Valeant.

While those who chose short-term options were wiped out, those who selected long-term or expiry-based options all reaped astonishing profits.

—The power of the saint guided me to YOLO $50,000, and that faith was rewarded with $4 million.

—$7 million achieved! I'm retiring. God-tier faith never fails!

However, these success stories soon gave rise to a new movement.

‘You can become a millionaire just by following Ha Si-heon’s investments?’

In the investment world, what's known as the halo effect and authority bias operate strongly.

This refers to the phenomenon where people blindly follow the decisions of successful investors.

For example, when giants like Buffett or Soros invest, individual investors flock in droves.

Now, that halo had begun to shine on Ha Si-heon.

—Does anyone know Saint Si-heon’s next prophecy?

—Are hedge fund investments only known to the fund's investors?

Stimulated by recent victories and overflowing profit posts, retail investors began to wonder about his other investments.

However, while hedge funds managing over $100 million disclosed their investments to some degree through 13F filings, smaller firms like Pareto Innovation had to wait until February for disclosures.

Until then, there was only one stock that investors could follow.

—There’s one, Allergan.

—He did all this to protect Allergan in the first place.

—Saint Si-heon is a board member of Allergan, apparently.

That was the pharmaceutical company Ha Si-heon had publicly declared—Allergan.

And so, hoping for great returns, retail investors began buying Allergan stock.

As a result, Allergan’s stock price surged from $156 to $200.

Ha Si-heon did not miss this opportunity.

***

I still had work left to do.

Namely, to sell off Allergan.

Before my regression, Allergan was merged with a company called Actavis for $220 per share, but in this life, things were different.

‘Obviously, I should sell it for more.’

So, at the Allergan board meeting, which I attended for the first time in a while, I presented this as an agenda item.

“Let’s look for a new acquisition candidate.”

But the moment I finished speaking, the meeting room fell into sudden silence.

The directors of Allergan began exchanging glances, and soon CEO Beckett carefully asked,

“Now that the threat of Valeant is gone, is a merger really necessary?”

Truthfully, from the beginning, the CEO and directors of Allergan were not fond of the idea of a merger.

They had barely agreed to it as a defensive strategy to avoid being swallowed by the despised Valeant.

Now that the villain was gone, it seemed they had returned to a skeptical stance on mergers.

However, I answered firmly.

“If we just sit still, it wouldn’t be strange if another company made the same attempt. The pharmaceutical industry needs economies of scale right now.”

With patent rights for various drugs expiring, the entire industry was actively pursuing mergers to expand product lines as much as possible.

Now was an era where size equaled competitiveness.

If things stayed as they were, another pharmaceutical company would undoubtedly target Allergan again.

“Rather than fighting again later, it’s better to merge now with a company of our choosing while our value is still high.”

I offered a reasonable explanation.

But the directors' expressions remained gloomy.

No matter the reason I gave, they didn’t seem too willing.

Well, then there's no helping it.

“Do you oppose it? If you do, we can proceed with the formal process.”

That moment, tension spread across the previously quiet meeting room.

The directors had just remembered something important.

Though I was a director and the public face of Allergan who had fought hard against Ackman, my true role was the representative of an activist fund.

In other words, I originally held shares to step in and give orders.

With a smile, I spoke calmly.

“If you’re unwilling, we can ask the shareholders directly.”

Thanks to the Ackman incident, my popularity was at its peak.

Whose voice would the shareholders listen to more at a general meeting?

Naturally, this veiled threat worked quite well.

“Of course, we respect Sean’s opinion. It’s just that we strongly feel the current acquisition candidates aren't suitable…”

That part was true.

The candidates they had considered previously were all unimpressive, with Actavis being the least bad option.

But still—

“Then let’s start from scratch. The situation has changed by now, hasn’t it?”

“Changed, you say?”

“Through this incident, Allergan now has the image of being the company that stood against Valeant—a symbol of ethics and honesty. That’s brand recognition that even hundreds of millions of dollars in advertising couldn’t buy. Don’t you think major pharmaceutical companies would be tempted now?”

“You mean major pharmaceutical companies…?”

The directors of Allergan looked puzzled.

It made sense—they primarily dealt in cosmetic-related drugs like Botox, which didn’t create much synergy with large pharmaceutical companies.

So under normal circumstances, they wouldn’t be very favorable toward an M&A.

But I was confident.

“Let’s cast the net into the market first. I’m sure we’ll get a good result.”

The directors had no choice but to agree with me.

They didn’t have any other options anyway.

It didn’t take long before we got a bite.

As I had predicted, a surprising number of big fish swarmed in.

Among them, the one I chose was Lawson, a global pharmaceutical giant.

“May I lead the negotiations?”

“You, Sean?”

“If you don’t trust me…”

“Ah, no, of course, we trust you.”

Indeed, having the reputation of being someone "not to be messed with" was useful at times like this.

It drastically cut down the time wasted on "persuasion."

Thus, I sat down at the negotiation table with Lawson and made my offer straightforwardly.

“We propose $350 per share on the condition that Allergan continues to operate as an independent subsidiary.”

The negotiator frowned slightly at my words.

“$350 per share… That’s higher than expected.”

“I believe it’s worth at least that much.”

“Well, there’s concern on our side that Allergan’s stock is currently inflated due to a temporary bubble.”

In other words, they were implying the price was inflated because of the retail investors who followed me.

I nodded in agreement.

“Of course, that could be the case. Which is why I have a special proposal. Upon the merger, I’ll become a board member at Lawson.”

The negotiator looked dumbfounded for a moment.

Usually, in this kind of merger, existing board members were expected to step down.

And here I was, acting as if I were doing them a favor by offering to become a board member.

Naturally, it must’ve sounded absurd.

However, I had a good reason to be so confident.

“As long as I’m on the board, the ‘bubble’ won’t burst—will it?”

That’s right.

The halo that followed me would now be applied to Lawson as well.

And that wasn’t all.

“Also, if any ‘ethical issues’ arise in the future, my presence could be quite an asset.”

“. . . . . . !”

I was now being called a ‘saint’ by retail investors.

And even setting aside that sensational title, I had solidified my image as a protector of rare disease treatments.

If I stepped forward, most ethical issues would be swiftly resolved.

That was a value money couldn’t buy.

“That’s… true.”

Lawson agreed.

And thus, Allergan successfully entered M&A proceedings with Lawson.

‘Did I just sell it off rather nicely?’

As a 5% shareholder of Allergan, this meant a decent profit for me.

Of course, I didn’t go through all this trouble just for the money.

‘Lawson is actually quite useful.’

There was one reason I chose Lawson among so many major pharmaceutical companies.

They were the pharmaceutical company with the most rare disease treatments.

If someone like me became a board member at Lawson?

It would make future partnerships for drug development with large pharma companies much smoother.

‘Guess it’s time to move on to the next step?’

With this, I had reaped all the direct gains I could from the incident.

Now, shall I calculate exactly how much I earned?

“We’ve closed all positions in Valeant and Herbalife. $889 million from Valeant, and $3.342 billion from Herbalife. That’s a total of $4.231 billion.”

“Heeek!”

At PM Laurent’s report, Dobby covered his mouth with both hands.

He looked like he wanted to say something, but realizing the report wasn’t over yet, he forced himself to stay quiet.

Laurent glanced at Dobby, then lowered his head again and continued while looking at his computer screen.

“If the Allergan acquisition proceeds smoothly and we liquidate our shares… the premium profit will be $3.59 billion. That makes a total of $7.821 billion.”

You could hear the sound of people swallowing hard around the meeting room.

Wide-eyed staff glanced at each other, but no one dared speak.

The report still wasn’t over.

“What remains now are the option profits… but due to possible regulatory issues, it's difficult to state a precise number at this point. Since this was an unusually large transaction and we invested right up to the limit, there’s a high chance the SEC will flag it.”

Options can’t be bought indefinitely either.

Exchanges set limits on how many options a single market participant can buy.

And in this case, we were dancing right on that limit the whole time.

In other words, it was a suspicious transaction from the regulator’s perspective.

If the SEC launched an investigation and deemed it market manipulation, part of the profits might be confiscated as fines—or worse, we could suffer even bigger losses.

However, I spoke confidently.

“Even if there’s an investigation, it won’t be a problem.”

“You’re sure?”

“It’s not insider trading, so the only charge could be market manipulation… but this case wasn’t orchestrated by hedge funds—it was an unprecedented short squeeze triggered by the public. With Valeant and Herbalife overlapping, it’s unrealistic to say this was all planned from the start as manipulation.”

Laurent thought for a moment, then nodded and continued.

“If there’s no regulatory risk… $1.781 billion from Valeant, $2.484 billion from Herbalife. That adds up to…”

“Holy…”

“Shit…”

Someone let out a breathless curse.

Meanwhile, Dobby quickly tapped at his calculator and then shouted.

“Holy crap! $12.086 billion?!”

That was the total profit we made in a single quarter.

Even I, a regressor, felt momentarily disconnected from reality.

But I quickly composed myself.

This profit came from just three stocks: Allergan, Valeant, and Herbalife.

And it was the result of pulling off not just one, but two short squeezes that would go down in history.

‘I doubt this will ever happen again.’

Exclamations echoed around the room, but I calmed the excited atmosphere.