Becoming the Wealthiest Tycoon on the Planet

"Of course, I'm always serious about what I say," William nodded. If Amir Bakavi really launched an attack in London, making money would be easy. He wouldn't even need to short the London market—he could target countries where the impact on England and France wasn't as strong and still easily make billions.

Thinking along these lines, William's previously gloomy mood started to lift. However, one concern still nagged at him: if people found out, would they think he had known about the attack beforehand?

Making money without warning the authorities, prioritizing profit over the lives of the public... the thought gave William a headache.

"God, if you really manage to resolve even half of this, all the bank's shareholders and employees would bow to you and kiss your feet," Pierre said excitedly.

William forced a laugh and, sensing Pierre's eagerness, laid out his own plan. "I'll make it simple. From the moment we sign the contract, I guarantee that within three months, I will recover at least 3.5 billion USD of your losses. If I achieve that, the 5 billion USD will be used to purchase an 18% stake in the bank. If I fail, I will buy that 18% stake at a 50 billion USD valuation."

"In other words, besides the 5 billion USD currently in the bank, I would need to contribute another 4 billion USD to fully acquire the 18% stake. Is there a problem with that?"

Pierre quickly shook his head.

"Great, then go share this good news with the bank's shareholders. My dear Pierre, I'll be waiting for your response."

"Of course, sir. I'll call the board immediately," Pierre said, still buzzing with excitement. He pulled out his phone and apologized to William, "Excuse me for a moment, Mr. Devonshire."

"Go ahead. I'll wait for the good news," William replied.

Pierre enthusiastically shook William's hand before leaving the room. Once outside the castle, he took a deep breath of the evening air and gazed at the sunset, suddenly reflecting on the situation.

He stood there for several minutes, realizing that his original purpose had only been to negotiate for a 5% stake. How had it turned into selling William an 18% stake in the bank?

While it was true that if William couldn't recover the 3.5 billion USD in three months, the bank would gain 9 billion USD in life-saving capital, once William acquired that 18% stake, he would immediately become the largest individual shareholder of the French bank. From then on, the bank would never be able to avoid William's influence, and the Devonshire family would quickly become a significant force in France's banking sector—one of the top three banks in the country, no less.

Pierre slapped his forehead, realizing that he had been outmaneuvered. The moment William had promised to recover half of the losses, Pierre's mind had focused solely on stabilizing the bank's stock price. He had been so caught up in short-term gains that he hadn't thought about the long-term consequences.

But when he thought about William's confident demeanor and the inevitable disaster awaiting if the crisis wasn't resolved, Pierre knew there was no escape from being fired as the bank's general manager. Worse, he might never work in banking again—a fate Pierre, who was still under 60 and full of energy, couldn't bear.

Walking slowly through the castle grounds for more than ten minutes, watching the sun setting in the sky, Pierre suddenly realized that if he didn't act now, his life would be just like the sun—slowly fading away from the upper echelons of society.

At that moment, the thought of "every man for himself" filled his mind. If he didn't look out for himself, no one else would.

William, standing by the window on the second floor of the castle, watched with admiration as Pierre paced back and forth in the garden, clearly wrestling with his decision. This old fox, who had managed the French bank for ten years, was sharp despite being burdened with the typical problems of a large corporation. William had assumed Pierre wouldn't realize he had been outplayed until he reported to the bank and received scorn. But here he was, figuring it out the moment he left the castle.

Just as William was thinking it was a shame, the situation took a surprising turn. Pierre took out his phone, and the spider robot trailing him relayed his conversation directly to William.

"Kate, it's Pierre. Notify all board members. I'm calling a shareholders' meeting in an hour and a half."

"Yes, Kate, I'm not joking. I'll be flying back to the bank shortly. The meeting will follow the highest level of confidentiality. Everyone attending will need to sign strict non-disclosure agreements."

"Thank you. I'll see you soon," Pierre hung up, then made another call. Twenty minutes later, he boarded a helicopter with his team and flew to Paris.

Watching Pierre's helicopter take off, William couldn't help but smile. Although he didn't know exactly why Pierre had acted this way, the situation was once again moving in the direction William had hoped.

Now, his attention needed to shift to Amir Bakavi.

After a pleasant dinner with Anthony and the other MasterCard executives, William glanced at the darkening sky and excused himself. "I'm finished. Please, continue at your leisure, gentlemen."

Anthony and the others quickly stood up to see William off as he left the dining room. After exchanging glances, William's personal tax lawyer, Lant, shrugged helplessly and lamented, "Judging by the boss's mood, it looks like our bonuses are gone."

Anthony cursed in frustration, "Damn those French bastards! Couldn't they have held out a bit longer? We didn't even get to make a move before they surrendered to the boss. The bonus is one thing, but now I feel useless."

"Exactly. God, I'm just relieved I haven't finalized my jewelry order yet. Otherwise, where would I get the money to pay for it?" financial supervisor Seville added, clearly relieved.

The others couldn't help but laugh at Seville's complaint.

"Damn it, what's so funny?" Seville grumbled, glaring at Anthony and Lant. "I've been your friend for over a decade, and instead of introducing me to the boss, you both hog all the accounting work. FK! One of you is a tax lawyer, and the other is a contract lawyer. Do you even know how to handle accounting?"

Anthony shrugged. "Our boss is super rich. As long as he's willing to pay, there's nothing money can't solve for me."

"Alright, alright," Lant interrupted. "Let's focus on the contract. Even without a bonus, I have a feeling we're going to be very, very busy in the coming days." He raised his glass of Latour. "At least with the boss, we get to enjoy '90 Latour whenever we want. You can't buy this stuff, no matter how much money you have."

Anthony laughed. "Collecting fine wine is probably the boss's only real hobby."

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