Chapter 168: The Trap Inside the Valuation

Several investors from Sabine City were beginning to feel restless.

Strictly speaking, they and the capitalists from Currilan City seated on the other side both belonged to the Federal Progressive Party camp. Much of the time, they maintained a shared attitude toward certain resources and information.

That was where capitalists with a political camp held an advantage over unaffiliated or neutral capitalists. Under the intervention of certain powerful figures, they might even form a temporary alliance.

But they could not truly be counted as the same group. After all, they had never fed from the same trough. More importantly, these people had come this time to steal business, so there was no possibility of them blending in with one another.

What truly made them uneasy was that they had publicly claimed Interstellar Trading Company had a valuation of seventy million dollars. Whether Mark had really used two million dollars to buy a three-percent stake was beside the point. In any case, that valuation absolutely could not be lowered now.

This had nothing to do with Mark. If the valuation dropped, Mark’s shareholding would increase first. After that, they might have to put up more wealth than they had budgeted in order to compete for a larger equity stake.

Everyone knew that inside a company, whoever held the most stock had the loudest voice. Whoever could gain the support of more people could decide everything within that company.

This was exactly where start-up companies’ love-hate relationship with investors and investment firms came from. Their equity stakes were often lower than those held by investment firms, which led to the ridiculous spectacle of many founders eventually being removed by the boardroom and kicked out of the companies they had created.

Their original plan had been to negotiate the valuation down as much as possible, then work with William in a staged performance to keep pushing Interstellar Trading Company’s stock price higher in the outside world.

They were not worried that William would refuse. This was faster than making money through honest business, and it made more money too.

Inflating a company’s market valuation was fundamentally no different from hyping up the price of a work of art. You kept passing it from hand to hand, constantly raising people’s expectations of its value.

The only difference was that antique speculation ultimately waited for one fool, while speculation in a company’s market value waited for a crowd of fools after the company went public.

At present, in the Baler Federation and even across the world, large numbers of capitalists were moving away from the most primitive form of physical business and toward capital operations. They no longer pursued the value of goods. They pursued value itself.

They had originally thought they could use a relatively small amount of money, along with other assets, to obtain more of the shares in William’s hands.

But now a rival had appeared. If they lowered the price, that meant the other side could also spend less money and accomplish more. Once both sides began competing, the conflict would sharpen, and their losses would grow larger.

And in the middle of it all was a troublesome young man named William.

If, at this point, they still thought William was merely a lucky kid, then they were the real fools. Arranging both groups in the same room was either the act of an utter idiot or an old fox.

Without question, William did not look like a foolish young man. He had quietly handled Mark, which meant they were the ones who had misjudged him.

“You are all here for my company...”

William smiled as he lifted his coffee and took a sip. The slight bitterness was followed by a rich fragrance. The roast was just right. He set the cup down, looked calmly at both groups, and continued, “I do not reject investment in Interstellar Trading Company. I have never believed that a successful man succeeds entirely on his own. Everyone’s success requires help from others.”