A Wall Street Genius's Final Investment Playbook-Chapter 317: The 100-Billion Race (13)

Masayoshi Son had only one goal.

‘No matter what happens, I must avoid a head-on collision with Ha Si-heon!’

The moment he stands against Ha Si-heon and loses, all the reputation and status he has built up until now will crumble in an instant. What remains would be nothing but the market’s mockery and humiliation.

Was that not proven by the miserable downfall of the other titans who had already been defeated by Ha Si-heon? There was simply no reason to take on such a risk.

The only fortunate thing was that Ha Si-heon had not yet issued an official declaration of war. He had merely announced the launch of a one-hundred-billion-dollar fund.

However, even that alone was enough to make everyone anticipate the imminent clash and become feverishly excited.

—The Grim Reaper of Wall Street Returns! Next Sacrifice: Masayoshi Son

—Breaking News) Ha Si-heon’s reappearance sends average heart rate across the financial sector +20 BPM...

—Masayoshi Son vs. Ha Si-heon! The Battle Royale of Billionaires Begins

—Son’s Visionary Fund sells dreams, but Ha Si-heon sells nightmares

To the drama-addicted masses of Wall Street, Ha Si-heon was already like a drug. Just the news of him stepping back into the ring had already ignited the market with frenzy and exhilaration.

What Masayoshi needed to do immediately was to calm this madness.

‘First... I need to change the narrative.’

The media was framing the current situation as a zero-sum game, fueling a fight. As if the two titans were about to wage a bloody war over limited resources.

He had to dismantle that premise entirely and strip the confrontation of its justification from the outset.

[I find it hard to agree with the notion that global capital is a ‘limited resource.’ As the low-interest era has continued for so long, nearly one trillion dollars in so-called ‘dry powder’—funds sitting idle without investment destinations—has accumulated in the financial markets.]

[This situation is not like fighting over a single cup of water in a desert. It’s closer to a flood. Mr. Ha and I are each opening channels for this massive flow of capital in our respective fields. In such circumstances, more outlets are beneficial. It means the market becomes healthier.]

[Furthermore, my vision is focused on the tech sector, while Mr. Ha’s is centered on healthcare. Since the paths themselves do not overlap, there is no reason for us to be competitors. Therefore, I respectfully ask that you refrain from creating this baseless narrative of conflict.]

Masayoshi meticulously presented himself as a refined pacifist. And immediately after the interview, he quietly returned to Japan.

‘From now on, I will remain completely silent.’

He was certain that Ha Si-heon would tenaciously try to provoke him, but all he had to do was ignore it. If he did so, he would remain a dignified investment magnate, while Ha Si-heon would end up looking like a clown punching at the air alone.

And just as expected, not long after, Ha Si-heon made his move.

[Rivalry? I’m not so sure. He and I are fundamentally on different levels...]

[There are countless investment opportunities in the world, yet someone chooses the most obvious one—‘tech’—and calls that ‘innovation’... That’s barely any different from breathing air and shouting, ‘The age of the oxygen revolution has come!’]

[Of course, the term ‘innovation’ itself is quite fitting. Jumping in late and shouting the loudest that ‘I’m the pioneer’... I suppose that is, in its own way, very innovative.]

[It’s hard for ordinary people to understand. Twenty years ago, he nearly went bankrupt from tech investments, and now he’s attempting a comeback with a hundred billion dollars... That’s something no normal mindset could even imitate.]

[After announcing retirement and naming a successor, he suddenly pushes them aside and launches a hundred-billion-dollar fund... I can’t help but wonder if this is what people call a ‘midlife crisis.’ Usually people settle for buying a sports car, but he’s unleashing it on Silicon Valley... This may go down in history as the most expensive midlife crisis ever.]

However, Ha Si-heon was even more scathing than usual. His face was calm, but every word was a razor-sharp blade, clearly intended to drag Masayoshi up onto the ring.

The public was ecstatic.

—This isn’t an interview, it’s a public execution...

—Please stop... the chairman can’t even breathe... oxygen revolution DELETED

—Wow, he’s disassembling him as quietly as if he were taking apart IKEA furniture.

—A man in midlife crisis sheds many tears... please stop making him cry...

They expected drama and waited eagerly for Masayoshi’s response.

But Masayoshi remained unmoved.

‘This is... a trap.’

In this situation, ignoring it was absolutely the correct move.

However, after enduring days of soul-shattering mockery in silence... Ha Si-heon changed tactics.

[You said our paths don’t overlap, but that’s not accurate. AI, big data, and telecommunication technology—key drivers of healthcare—clearly overlap with tech. The related deal flow is a finite resource. Yet you have voluntarily stepped back and graciously yielded that precious deal flow to us... For that generosity, I sincerely thank you.]

This time, it wasn’t mere provocation. It was fabrication.

‘He’s exploiting the fact that I cannot respond right now...’

Ha Si-heon was using Masayoshi’s forced silence to establish the idea of “concession” as fact.

Remaining silent would be the correct move again... but this time, it gave him pause.

‘This will cause real harm.’

If this narrative of “concession” became accepted as fact, it was obvious that promising investment opportunities would start flowing to Ha Si-heon. Yet if he refuted it, it would turn into a public confrontation.

But after weighing both sides, he eventually decided. He would remain silent.

It was painful, but in a strange way, it brought him a sense of relief.

‘The fact that he’s resorting to lies and fabrication means Ha Si-heon is that desperate.’

And it made sense.

Masayoshi’s silence strategy was working. The public sentiment, which had initially been heated, was gradually cooling as Masayoshi maintained absolute non-response.

—Chairman, please say something...

—I regret investing my time into this...

—I subscribed to CNBC just for this. Should I get a refund?

—Is he even alive? Somebody go to SoftFinance headquarters and check if the chairman is still doing the oxygen revolution.

—He just needed to endure a little longer.

—Just a little more...

And then it happened.

Ha Si-heon changed his strategy again. This time, he began actively promoting his Cure Fund to the public.

However... The language he used felt strangely familiar. It was no wonder—what Ha Si-heon presented was practically a copy-and-paste of Masayoshi’s own words.

It went something like this:

[We invest with a singular focus on the “longevity gene” as the one and only singularity.]

(We invest with a singular focus on the “technological singularity.”)

[The Cure Fund is not capital seeking returns—it is capital designed to accelerate medical innovation.]

(The Visionary Fund is not merely investment capital—it is capital designed to accelerate the evolutionary speed of humanity.)

[We will summon a tomorrow that does not yet exist.]

(The moment we invest, we are already living in tomorrow.)

He had merely swapped out a few words in a clever way.

‘What on earth...............??’

Just as Masayoshi was struggling to make sense of his intentions, it happened:

[This philosophy sounds very similar to Chairman Masayoshi Son’s Visionary Fund. Were you influenced by it?]

[Not at all. If anything, I believe he drew inspiration from my ideas.]

Masayoshi’s eyebrow twitched. What kind of nonsense was this?

[The core of the Visionary Fund is ultimately the concept of “designing the infrastructure of the future directly through capital,” which is precisely the methodology I pioneered through my AI investments. Perhaps Chairman Masayoshi saw that and was inspired.]

[You know how they say that when people go through a midlife crisis, they start imitating the younger generation? Of course, it's an understandable behavior.]

Masayoshi couldn’t help but let out a stunned laugh. Ha Si-heon was now claiming that he was the originator, and Masayoshi merely the imitator.

Of course, this was blatant fabrication. The Visionary Fund was an original project Masayoshi had been planning for three years. Back when Ha Si-heon was still shaking the world with AI investments, Masayoshi’s blueprint was already near completion.

[Well, it can’t be helped. There’s no patent on ideas like these anyway. And when someone is going through a midlife crisis, they tend to do things they normally wouldn’t.......... Must be the hormones, or so I’ve heard.............]

To top it off, Ha Si-heon subtly played the victim, as though he were the one whose intellectual property had been stolen—all while continuing to harp on that damned “midlife crisis.”

It was absolutely absurd. He wanted to refute him on the spot, but...

‘That would be falling straight into his trap.’

He had to avoid a head-on confrontation. Because that was exactly what Ha Si-heon wanted.

However, simply continuing to endure this was twisting his insides. And this was no longer just a matter of pride.

‘At this rate.............. the Visionary Fund’s status as the original will be undermined.’

The reason the Visionary Fund held an unparalleled position in the market was precisely because of its originality. The tech sector itself was nothing special as an investment destination. What mattered was how one overturned the existing paradigm in that obvious sector. That bold approach was the Visionary Fund’s key differentiator.

But if that approach were branded as plagiarism? When originality was its sole competitive edge, the damage would be catastrophic.

Yet if he rushed to refute it now... He would be stepping onto the public battlefield exactly as Ha Si-heon desired.

Masayoshi clutched his head in frustration.

Meanwhile, public sentiment was rapidly shifting.

—Why isn’t he saying anything............... Silence means agreement, doesn’t it......

—So did he really copy Si-heon’s AI investment thesis and rush out the Visionary Fund?

—Grandpa copied someone else’s homework and is now pretending he lost his hearing aid when he got caught

—Age spares no one...... even legends end up plagiarizing in the end............

—Masayoshi’s new life motto: “When innovation fails, copy and paste.”

—Plot twist: Masayoshi’s secret investment strategy—invest in the Ctrl key

Under normal circumstances, silence was golden. But in a situation where he was being branded a thief, silence was tantamount to confession.

If he stayed silent any longer, his innovation fund would be permanently labeled a derivative copy of someone else’s idea. If that happened, he would never be able to raise the remaining capital he needed. And peor still, promising investment targets would quickly shy away.

‘This is no longer something that can be ignored.’

The balance had clearly tipped. The damage caused by remaining silent now far outweighed any benefit.

In the end, Masayoshi had no choice but to break his long silence and finally speak.

***

“The claim that we imitated Mr. Ha Si-heon is entirely unfounded. Our innovation strategy was conceptualized long before the AI boom.............”

‘Took him long enough.’

Only after rolling the dice twelve times—robing from every possible angle—did a response finally emerge.

In any case, Masayoshi Son looked deeply aggrieved as he spoke.

“The Visionary Fund originated from the idea of the ‘technological singularity.’ This is something I have been speaking about for years, and it is widely known. Furthermore, Mr. Ha’s claim that ‘designing infrastructure directly through capital’ constitutes originality is... insufficient. That level of concept is something anyone could easily conceive.”

Masayoshi personally stepped forward to assert his originality and mount a counterattack.

But his response was still lukewarm. To the public, it could be dismissed as merely a misunderstanding.

‘Perhaps it's time to sharpen the conflict a bit more.’

To properly draw people’s attention, this vague tension had to be inflamed into a clear and heated confrontation. Conveniently, the perfect material was already in hand.

I nodded calmly and spoke:

“Of course, it’s possible for ideas to resemble each other by coincidence. That is—so long as the specific details are not identical.”

Then I continued.

“For example, our fund employs a unique structure. We created a ‘prepaid hybrid model’ to preemptively distribute risk. In simple terms, it’s a system that secures periodic returns in advance, embedding bond-like stability into the framework.”

In that instant, Masayoshi’s expression stiffened. And understandably so.

I had just accurately described the investment structure he had painstakingly developed for his fund. Yes—the very same structure I had copied. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

His face said it all.

‘How does he know this...?’

Watching his reaction, I smiled leisurely.

“Surely... you didn’t imitate this as well, did you?”