Chapter 372: Billionaire Link (6/10)

While the internet was still buzzing with news about "Scumbag Link" and calls to "buy Taylor's album to help her raise the child," another headline forcefully pushed its way into the top three trending topics on major news platforms.

The news stemmed from Tesla's IPO on September 12th (stock code: TSLA), making it the first independent all-electric car manufacturer to go public in the US.

Tesla issued 13.3 million shares, about 14.3% of its total share capital, at $21 per share, valuing the company at $2.38 billion. On the first day of trading, Tesla's stock price rose to $28 and peaked at $35, pushing the company's market value over $3 billion.

If it were just $3 billion, Link, as a major shareholder of Tesla, wouldn't have attracted much media attention. However, in the following week, Tesla's stock price steadily climbed from its IPO price of $21 to $38, increasing the company's market value to $4.28 billion and even reaching a peak of $6 billion.

When Tesla's market value exceeded $4 billion, the Wall Street Journal published a front-page story congratulating not Tesla, but its second-largest individual shareholder, Mr. Link Baker, on his net worth surpassing $1 billion and becoming a self-made billionaire.

The article detailed Link's investment in Tesla, stating that since the beginning of the year, he had spent nearly $200 million to acquire over 11% of Tesla's shares.

After Tesla's successful IPO, Link still owned 10.3% of the company's shares, making him the second-largest individual shareholder, Tesla's global brand ambassador, and the fifth-largest voting shareholder on the board of directors.

Based on Tesla's current market value, Link's 10.3% stake was worth over $400 million. Combined with his Link Music, valued at $520 million, Dynasty Promotion, his investment in Twitter, and his boxing earnings of over $100 million, the Wall Street Journal estimated Link's net worth to be well over $1 billion, between $1 billion and $1.2 billion.

The article also included a quote from Elon Musk, who mentioned being neighbors with Link in the Bay Area, living less than three miles apart. Musk also said he was a fan of Link's boxing and initially approached him for an autograph, not for investment. They had a good chat, and Musk asked Link if he wanted to invest in Tesla, a great company that could one day take people to Mars.

Link found the idea cool and immediately agreed to join.

Musk said he was thrilled at the time, feeling like he had found a kindred spirit.

Finally, the reporter asked Musk how he would describe Link.

Musk said Link was a visionary friend, a sharp and bold investor, a partner with firm beliefs, and one of the key investors who played a crucial role in Tesla during difficult times.

Besides Musk, the Wall Street Journal also interviewed other Tesla shareholders, including Google co-founder Larry Page, who said Link was one of the most outstanding and exciting young people he had ever met.

Michael Moritz, a senior partner at Sequoia Capital, also spoke highly of Link during his interview with the Wall Street Journal.

The purpose of these interviews was to leverage Link's fame to promote Tesla's IPO and boost its stock price, which they successfully achieved.

Thanks to Link's fame and the Wall Street Journal's sensational report, news like "Link's net worth exceeds $1 billion," "Link becomes the world's youngest billionaire," and "Link joins the 500 richest people in the US" quickly trended on major news websites.

These articles highlighted Link's investment in Tesla. From the beginning of the year to August, he had invested over $100 million, buying 11% of the shares from Musk. In just a few months, after Tesla's IPO, his stake had nearly tripled in value.

With this successful investment, his net worth was now well over $1 billion.

He also surpassed Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz to become the world's youngest billionaire. At the beginning of the year, 26-year-old Dustin Moskovitz became the youngest American billionaire with $1.4 billion and ranked 290th on the Forbes 400 list.

Based on the Forbes list released earlier this year, Link's current net worth could potentially rank him among the top 500, making him a true billionaire, not just a singer or boxer.

So, while many netizens were still cursing Link as a scumbag and clamoring to buy Taylor's album to help her raise the child, they were shocked to see this news. Link, only 21 years old, had a net worth of over $1 billion? Was it real?

Some people were skeptical and searched for relevant news, only to find that not only the Wall Street Journal but also Businessweek, Vanity Fair, the New York Post, and other major media outlets confirmed the news with concrete data.

Businessweek stated in its article that $1 billion was a conservative estimate.

Based on Link's Tesla shares, Twitter shares, Link Music, and Dynasty Promotion, his total net worth had already exceeded $1 billion.

Considering his boxing earnings, world tour revenue, album royalties, film company profits, acting fees, and other investments this year, his net worth should be between $1.2 billion and $1.5 billion, and he could potentially rank among the top 300 on the Forbes list next year.

The New York Post claimed that the Wall Street Journal's investigation was seriously flawed. This year, Link's income from boxing matches, the world tour, and royalties from two albums alone had exceeded $300 million. It was also rumored that he owned an unknown amount of Amazon stock, putting his net worth at least at $1.5 billion, not the $1 billion predicted by the Wall Street Journal.

The public was stunned by these figures.

It turned out that Link was not only a world boxing champion, a music superstar, and a movie star, but also a billionaire.

Was it excessive for such a wealthy man to be a bit of a playboy?

Wasn't this the life that all men dreamed of?

Oh right, some people were still talking about tightening their belts to help Link raise his child.

With Link's net worth and Taylor's wealth, their child would be a billionaire from birth. Did such a person need others to raise them? Were they crazy?

"I was wrong. I'm a joke."

"Idol Link, please forgive my ignorance. I kneel before you."

"I declare that from now on, Link is my dad... no, my role model."

Many who had previously criticized Link online changed their tune after seeing this news, praising and even fawning over him.

Overnight, the number of negative comments on Link's Twitter decreased by over 100,000, while congratulatory messages and expressions of admiration increased by over 200,000.

Many people also asked Link about his next investment plans, hoping to follow suit.

Link replied with one word: "Tesla."

Thanks to the publicity from the Wall Street Journal and other media, Tesla's fame soared, becoming a star stock on the Nasdaq. Within three days, its market value exceeded $6 billion, almost triple its pre-IPO value.

Link's net worth also rose with the tide, being touted by the media as a billionaire or even a multi-billionaire, like a bubble.

After Tesla's stock price reached $60, many shareholders, seeing the opportunity for profit and fearing that no one would buy at such a high price, started selling off their shares. Tesla's stock price gradually fell back to around $38 per share, and its market value stabilized around $4 billion.

"Cathy, how much did we make this time?" Link asked Cathy Wood, who looked pleased, in a cafe on Wall Street.

"Not much. As of now, we have a balance of over $6.55 million," Cathy Wood replied with a reserved smile, holding her coffee cup.

"Over six million? Indeed not much," Link nodded.

Cathy Wood was taken aback. In less than half a month, they had made a net profit of over $60 million just by buying and selling stocks. Was that not much?

She had initially said "not much" to be modest in front of her boss, not to boast about her achievements.

But Link really didn't seem to care about $60 million.

Well, she suddenly remembered that this guy earned thirty to forty million from a single boxing match. Sixty million was indeed not much to him.

She should have known better than to be humble with him.

"Link, I think $60 million is quite a lot. Besides, we also acquired nearly 1.6% of Tesla's shares while the stock price was falling, which is worth about $60 million. So, in total, we made over $102 million from this operation," Cathy Wood said, barely suppressing her excitement.

After Tesla's IPO, Link believed there was room for the stock price to rise and suggested buying more shares while the price was still low.

Since Link had demonstrated accurate judgment in buying Tesla shares before, Cathy had confidence in his words.

So, after Tesla went public, she led her asset management team to buy a large number of Tesla shares at a low price. When the stock price exceeded $60, they followed the trend and sold them all. Later, they bought millions of shares around $36, making a net profit of over $60 million and acquiring 1.6% of Tesla's shares through buying and selling.

This was the most profitable and successful operation of her career. She and her team also earned over $10 million in commissions during this period.

Now, she was not only an asset manager for Link, a senior partner at Vanguard Asset Management Group, and a star manager at a Wall Street investment bank, but also a multimillionaire.

Although it had been two days since she became a multimillionaire, she was still thrilled every time she saw the money in her account and the stocks in her hand.

But after meeting Link, this excitement gradually cooled down.

Link didn't even blink when he heard she had made over $100 million, making her suddenly feel that being a multimillionaire was nothing.

"How many Tesla shares do we have now?" Link asked.

"The company has 6.5%, and you have 10.8% under your name. According to our department's forecast, Tesla's stock price will fall further. If you still have confidence in Tesla, we can continue buying in the low-price range," Cathy Wood said.

Link nodded, thinking it was a good suggestion.

Currently, Tesla hadn't launched a flagship product yet, and the recent surge in stock price was due to capital operation. It was expected that the market value would fall below $4 billion in the near future, and it would be a good time to buy more shares then.

He remembered that Tesla's market value exceeded $10 billion in 2013, $100 billion in 2020, and $1 trillion in 2021.

He then asked about Bitcoin. The current price was just rising to $3, still relatively low.

Cathy Wood said they were currently hoarding 100,000 bitcoins, almost the most in the market, and asked if he wanted to continue.

Link nodded, suggesting they hoard and sell simultaneously, maintaining around 100,000 bitcoins. More was useless, and no one on the Forbes list had become the richest person in the world by hoarding Bitcoin. The focus of investment should remain on company stocks.

(End of chapter)