Domination in America, Starting from being a Boxing Champion-Chapter 444 - 372: Tycoon Link (6/10)

On the internet, news like "Scumbag Link" and "Buy albums to support Taylor, help Taylor raise her child" hadn't even cooled down when another piece of news fiercely broke into the top three trending lists on major news platforms.

The cause was on September 12, when Tesla Inc. was listed on NASDAQ, (stock ticker: TSLA), becoming the first independent all-electric vehicle manufacturer to be listed in the United States.

Tesla Inc. issued 13.3 million shares, about 14.3% of its total shares, at a price of $21 per share with a corresponding market value of $2.38 billion. On the opening day, Tesla's stock price rose to $28 and peaked at $35.

Tesla's market value smoothly surpassed $3 billion US dollars.

If it were just $3 billion US dollars, Link, a major shareholder of Tesla, would not have drawn much media attention.

However, over the following week, Tesla's stock steadily climbed from the issue price of $21 US dollars to $38 US dollars, and Tesla's market value also expanded to $4.28 billion US dollars, peaking at $6 billion US dollars.

When Tesla's market value broke $4 billion US dollars, The Wall Street Journal published a piece of great news on its front page, not to congratulate Tesla on surpassing $4 billion but to congratulate Tesla's second-largest individual shareholder, Mr. Link Baker, whose net worth had surpassed $1 billion US dollars, making him a self-made billionaire.

The Wall Street Journal extensively introduced Link's investments in the Tesla project in the article, claiming that Link had spent nearly two hundred million US dollars since the beginning of the year, buying up more than 11% of Tesla's shares.

After the successful listing of Tesla, Link Baker still retained 10.3% of Tesla shares, becoming the second-largest individual shareholder of Tesla, the global spokesperson for Tesla, and the fifth highest voting member on Tesla's board of directors.

Based on the current market value of Tesla, the 10.3% share that Link held was worth over four hundred million US dollars. Along with Link's music venture, currently valued at $520 million US dollars, as well as Dynasty Promotion Company, investments in Twitter, and the more than one hundred million US dollars he earned through boxing matches.

The Wall Street Journal estimated Link's net worth was comfortably over one billion US dollars, estimated between $1 billion to $1.2 billion.

The Wall Street Journal also published comments from Elon Musk, who began by saying that he was neighbors with Link, both living in the Bay Area villas, less than three miles apart.

Musk also mentioned he was a fan of Link's boxing and initially sought Link out for an autograph, not investment. Later, the two got along well, and he asked Link if he wanted to invest in Tesla, which was a great company that, in the future, could carry humans to Mars.

Link said that was cool and immediately agreed to join.

Musk mentioned he was very excited at the time, feeling like he had found a like-minded person.

Finally, when the reporter asked Musk how he would describe Link?

Musk said that Link was a visionary friend, a keen and bold investor, a steadfast partner, and mentioned that Link played a crucial role in Tesla during tough times as one of the key investors.

Besides Musk, The Wall Street Journal also interviewed other shareholders of Tesla, including Google's founder, Larry Page, who described Link as one of the most exciting and excellent young individuals he had ever met.

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

The intent of these individuals was to leverage Link's fame to publicize the news of Tesla's IPO, to drive Tesla's stock price, and they indeed achieved this goal.

Given Link's popularity, the news reported by The Wall Street Journal like "Link's net worth surpasses one billion US dollars," "Link becomes the youngest billionaire globally," and "Link enters the list of America's richest 500," quickly soared to the top of the trending lists on major news websites.

The articles highlighted Link's investments in Tesla, detailing that from the beginning of the year until August, he had invested over one hundred million US dollars, buying 11% of the shares from Musk, which had nearly tripled in a few months after Tesla's IPO.

Thanks to this successful investment, he currently has a firm net worth of over one billion US dollars.

This also surpassed Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz, making him the youngest billionaire globally; earlier in the year, at 26, Dustin Moskovitz had become America's youngest billionaire with a net worth of $1.4 billion, ranking 290th on the Forbes list of America's wealthiest.

According to Forbes' list of America's wealthiest released at the beginning of the year, Link was expected to enter the top 500, a bona fide wealthy individual, not merely a singer or boxer.

So while many netizens were still angrily calling Link a scumbag and clamoring to buy Taylor's albums to help her raise her child, they were suddenly astonished to see news like this explode online. Link, merely 21 years old, had a net worth exceeding one billion US dollars? Could it be true?

Some people, incredulous, searched everywhere for related news and discovered that not only The Wall Street Journal but also Business Week, Vanity Fair, and the New York Post had verified with solid data that it was indeed true.

Business Week mentioned in an article that one billion US dollars was a conservative estimate.

Considering Link's shares in Tesla, Twitter, Link Music, and Dynasty Promotion Company, his total net worth had already surpassed one billion US dollars.

Adding his earnings from boxing matches, world tour income, album profit shares, film studio profits, movie salaries, and other investments, his net worth ought to be between $1.2 billion to $1.5 billion, with potential entry into the top 300 on Forbes' list next year.

The New York Post claimed that The Wall Street Journal had made a serious error in its investigation. This year alone, from his earnings in boxing matches, world tours, and two album shares, these three income streams had already netted over $300 million US dollars. It was rumored that Link also held an undisclosed amount of Amazon stocks, with a minimum net worth of $1.5 billion, not the $1 billion estimated by The Wall Street Journal.

The public gawked at these figures.

It turns out that Link was not only a world boxing champion, a music superstar, and a film star but also a multi-billionaire worth over a billion US dollars.

Isn't it a bit forgiving for such a wealthy individual to be a bit frivolous?

Isn't this the kind of life every man should aspire to?

By the way, these days, some people are still fussing about scrimping and saving to support Link's child.

Given Link's net worth and pop queen Taylor's fortune, their child would at least be a billionaire from birth. Do such people need others to support them? Are they insane?

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

"Idol Link, please forgive my ignorance, take my knees."

"I declare from now on, Link is not just my father; he is my role model."

Many who had once insulted Link online saw the news and swiftly changed sides, showering him with praise and even adoration.

In the comments section of Link's Twitter, the number of negative comments decreased by over one hundred thousand overnight.

Congratulations on becoming a billionaire and expressions of admiration for him increased by over two hundred thousand.

Many people also left messages asking Link about his investment plans moving forward, ready to follow his lead.

Link replied, "Tesla."

With the promotion by media outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, the fame of Tesla increased significantly and became a star stock on Nasdaq. In three days, its market value had surged to 6 billion US dollars, almost tripling its pre-listing value.

Link's net worth also rose astronomically, hyped by the media to be around ten or twenty billion, like a huge bubble.

After Tesla's stock reached 6 billion, many shareholders, seeing profitable opportunities and fearing that the price had increased too much for others to buy in, began to sell large amounts of stock, causing Tesla's stock price to gradually decline to around 38 US dollars per share, with the market value stabilizing at around 4 billion US dollars.

"Kathy, how much did we earn this time?"

In a coffee shop at 45 Wall Street, Link looked at the composed Kathy Wood and asked.

"Not much, as of now, we have a balance of over 65.5 million US dollars in our account,"

Kathy Wood replied, holding her coffee cup with a restrained smile.

"Over 65 million? That's indeed not much."

Link nodded.

Ms. Kathy Wood was stunned for a moment; in less than half a month, netting over 65 million US dollars just from buying and selling seemed considerable to her. Was this not much?

Initially, when she said it was not much, she was being modest in front of her boss, trying not to boast about her own merits.

Apparently, Link truly did not consider over 65 million a significant amount.

Well, she suddenly remembered, to someone like him, who could earn thirty to forty million from a single boxing match, over 65 million indeed wasn't much.

If she had known, she wouldn't have tried to be modest with him.

"Link, I think 65 million is quite a lot. Besides, we also took advantage of the dip in Tesla's stock price to acquire nearly 1.6% of the shares, amounting to over 60 million. Including that, we earned over 120 million US dollars from this operation,"

Ms. Kathy Wood said, suppressing her excitement.

After Tesla's listing, believing that Tesla's stock price had room to rise, Link proposed to purchase more shares while the prices were low.

Since Link had demonstrated precise judgment in buying Tesla's shares, Kathy was quite confident in following his advice.

Therefore, after the listing of Tesla, she led her asset management team to buy a large number of Tesla shares at low prices, and sold them all when the stock price broke 60 US dollars. Later, they bought millions of shares again around 36 US dollars. From buying and selling, they netted over 65 million in cash and 1.6% of Tesla's shares.

This was the most profitable and successful operation in her career. With these transactions, she and her team earned over ten million in commissions.

Now, she was not only Link's asset manager but also a senior partner at Pioneer Asset Management Group, a star manager at a Wall Street investment bank, and a millionaire.

Although it was only two days since she became a millionaire, every time she saw the money in her account and the shares in her hand, she was ecstatic.

However, after meeting with Link, her excitement gradually cooled down.

Since Link heard they made over a hundred million and didn't even blink an eye, she suddenly felt that becoming a millionaire was not that big of a deal.

"How many shares of Tesla do we still hold?"

Link asked.

"Our company holds 6.5%, and you personally own 10.8%. According to our department's prediction, Tesla's stock price will drop further. If you still have confidence in Tesla, we can continue buying at the lower price range,"

Kathy Wood said.

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Link nodded, thinking it was a good suggestion.

Currently, Tesla still had not launched its blockbuster product; the recent surge in its stock price was the result of capital operations. He expected that the market value would fall below 4 billion US dollars soon, and it would still be viable to buy more shares then.

He remembered that Tesla's market value had broken 100 billion in its tenth year and reached one trillion in the eleventh year of listing. If everything went smoothly, it wouldn't be hard for him to become a billionaire in the future.

He then inquired about Bitcoin, whose price had just risen to 3 US dollars, still considered a low price.

Kathy Wood mentioned that they had accumulated 100,000 Bitcoins, making them one of the largest Bitcoin holders on the market. She asked if he wanted to keep stockpiling?

Link nodded, indicating that they should continue stockpiling while selling some, keeping around 100,000 as more wouldn't be useful. No one had become the world's richest person by hoarding Bitcoins according to the Forbes rankings; the focus should continue to be on corporate stocks.