A Wall Street Genius's Final Investment Playbook-Chapter 323: The 100 Billion Race (19)

Meanwhile, there was one person who was unusually attentive to Ha Si-heon’s every move. That person was none other than Saudi Crown Prince Fahid bin Salman.

His mind kept replaying his last conversation with Ha Si-heon.

— Within a month, Ubers will be shaken so hard that people will start questioning its very survival.

— There is a saying in the East. ‘Seeing once is better than hearing a hundred times.’ If you cannot bring yourself to believe my words, then the only thing left is for you to witness it with your own eyes.

It was a clear threat. If the Crown Prince didn’t invest in Ha Si-heon’s fund, he was basically saying he’d drive Ubers to the brink.

But the Prince could not bow down. Investing in Ha Si-heon’s fund would mean admitting defeat. It would be an admission that pouring 45 billion dollars into Masayoshi Son was a mistake and that Saudi Arabia’s judgment had been wrong.

It was no longer a matter of personal pride—it was about the honor of an entire nation. Unless he was truly cornered with no way out, the Crown Prince would never choose that path.

‘What move will he make this time...?’

The Prince fell deep into thought. Judging from Ha Si-heon’s past moves, his next strategy was obvious enough.

“He’ll sway public opinion and rile up the masses.”

That much was predictable. But still—something didn’t sit right.

‘That won’t be very effective against Ubers, will it?’

Ubers was a private company. Even if public sentiment turned ugly, the public couldn’t just dump its shares whenever it wanted. Of course, private stakes could still be sold. But most of Ubers’s major investors were venture capital firms and institutions who cared only about profitability. No matter how toxic the media climate became, as long as growth and returns remained strong, they would not pull out.

In other words, Ha Si-heon’s specialty—the “war of public opinion”—shouldn’t work this time.

‘Then why is he bothering to prepare one at all...?’

The Prince couldn’t completely read Ha Si-heon’s intentions, but he knew he had to respond.

First, he contacted every media outlet under Saudi influence. Even in America, where press freedom was sacrosanct, no media company was completely immune to capital. There were plenty that still answered to the royal family’s whisper. The Prince planned to use those outlets to build counter-narratives and restrain Ha Si-heon’s moves.

So, when everything was set and he waited tensely for the first salvo—

Ha Si-heon finally spoke.

[In some cities, the taxi industry is run by mafias. Those mafias keep attacking Ubers drivers—smashing their cars, beating them up. These incidents never stop.]

Only then did the Crown Prince realize what Ha Si-heon was doing.

“It wasn’t propaganda—it was exposé!”

Just as he had done with Theranos and Valiant, Ha Si-heon was trying to ruin Ubers by exposing its hidden corruption. But that raised another question.

“Did Ubers even have any such... fatal weakness to expose?”

“Not that we know of, Your Highness.”

The reply came from the Public Investment Fund official who oversaw Ubers’s investment. Naturally, before Saudi invested its massive 38 billion dollars, it had conducted thorough due diligence. If there had been any serious corruption, they would never have invested.

The official gave his assessment.

“Personally, I think this is less of a whistleblowing case and more of a media campaign. That driver murder in Brazil is just a shock-bait story—it’s hard to pin that on Ubers.”

Brazil and Mexico were countries notorious for high violent-crime rates to begin with. Those drivers weren’t killed because they worked for Ubers—they were just unlucky to be driving in crime-ridden areas.

“Besides, he hasn’t even done his research. He claimed ‘the mafia runs the taxis,’ but that’s not true. It’s a distorted way of describing how local taxi unions bully competitors—people just call them ‘mafias’ metaphorically.”

Ha Si-heon’s statements were full of holes. And ironically, that made the Prince even more uneasy.

‘Ha Si-heon... this sloppy?’

The unease crept back in. But he couldn’t just sit still. He launched his counterattack through the media allies Saudi could influence.

[Those regions have always had high crime rates. Blaming Ubers for that seems far-fetched.]

Even under tough questions from reporters, Ha Si-heon did not flinch.

[No, these crimes are definitely Ubers’s responsibility. All these incidents spiked after Ubers introduced cash payments.]

[Ubers used to accept only credit cards. But last year, they added cash payments in emerging markets because of low card adoption rates.]

[Think about it—credit card transactions are traceable, so major crimes like murder are rare. But with cash?]

[By putting cash in drivers’ hands and sending them into dangerous streets, Ubers basically threw them to the wolves. How can we blame only the criminals?]

At first glance, it sounded somewhat convincing. But then—

[Do you have any objective evidence that crime increased because of the cash policy?]

[No, I don’t. But anyone can connect the dots with common sense, can’t they?]

It was just Ha Si-heon’s personal opinion, unsupported by data or evidence. Yet right at that moment, the Prince felt that same itch of doubt again.

‘Something’s off...’

In the Theranos case, Ha Si-heon had brought hard data, proof, and insider testimony before launching his attack—a perfectly calculated operation. So why was he being so careless now?

But less than two hours later, breaking news flashed across screens.

<Reuters Urgent Report: “Ubers crimes up tenfold after cash payments introduced.”>

Reuters had published official Brazilian police data that confirmed Ha Si-heon’s claims. What had seemed like reckless speculation was now validated by a trusted source. And the article contained an even more damning detail.

<After the incidents last year, drivers held protests demanding safety measures. But Ubers headquarters dismissed them, saying “the cash system has already been proven safe.” The Brazil branch manager even remarked that drivers were “being overly emotional.”>

Ubers had shown no interest in safety. Blinded by cash revenue, they had thrown their drivers into danger and ignored their desperate cries. Public outrage erupted instantly.

— Drivers are dying out there, and the company only cares about profits?

— Calling it an “emotional reaction” while people are being murdered... that’s psychopathic.

— If Ubers knew about the crime spike and did nothing, that’s aiding and abetting murder.

#DeleteUbers

—I’m switching to Ride: time to use a company with a conscience.

The revelation poured fuel on the boycott movement. That was when Ha Si-heon contacted him again.

[Have you seen the recent situation? I thought I’d check in—maybe it’s time to get some insurance. You never know when disaster might strike.]

It was essentially a threat, but the Prince stayed calm.

“Calling this a disaster is a bit of an exaggeration.”

Public opinion was on fire, yes—

“But public sentiment and investor sentiment aren’t the same. The public might scream boycott, but investors only care about growth. In an article about cash payments, they’ll notice not that ‘crime rose tenfold,’ but that ‘usage in emerging markets rose fifteenfold.’”

[So you’re saying it’s not a problem because more customers are coming in from emerging markets than the number of customers leaving due to the boycott.]

“It may sound cruel, but from an investor’s perspective, isn’t that how it works?”

Ha Si-heon did not try to persuade him any further. He simply smiled lightly and left behind one ominous remark.

[It seems I haven’t shown you enough yet. I’ll contact you again next time.]

***

As I hung up the phone, I let out a small sigh.

“Whew......”

This is how the world works. Even when you warn people kindly, no one listens. No matter how much smoke you blow in front of their eyes and say a bigger fire is coming, convincing someone who hesitates to buy insurance is never easy. In the end, you have no choice but to show them the flames more clearly.

Fortunately, I still had plenty of cards left to play. The key was choosing which one to set off. In Ubers’ case, there were so many options that it was hard to choose, but in moments like this, there was one highly effective method.

Clatter—

A newly crafted die rolled gracefully across the table. This one was custom-made specifically for Ubers. A regular die wasn’t nearly enough, so I had it designed with thirteen faces. And it wasn’t just about having more faces.

This die was handcrafted by a top-tier artisan, made from Italian ebony with pure silver inlaid using a delicate technique. The numbers carved into its polished surface were engraved by hand with exquisite care, and its edges were wrapped in intricate pure gold filigree that dazzled to the eye.

In any case, at this very moment—

The number shown on the die was:

<12>

“Well, this isn’t a bad one.”

I immediately went on air and announced choice number 12 from the thirteen prepared revelations.

“Ubers treats its drivers as disposable. I have heard that the CEO has no intention of coexisting or prospering with drivers, and even used blatant abusive language in front of them.”

At a glance, it might have looked like baseless slander. If the CEO made a sincere public statement and refuted it outright, it could even backfire on me.

But—

What if this was followed by an actual exposé? Specifically, something like this:

<[Shocking] Ubers CEO says, “Drivers going bankrupt? Not my problem”—caught insulting drivers>

The very next day, a Bloomberg article dropped. The article included an actual black box recording. It was a conversation between an Ubers driver and the CEO.

When the driver pleaded that he was facing bankruptcy due to Ubers’ recent opaque pricing policy changes that drastically cut his earnings, the CEO snickered with contempt and snapped back coldly:

[Bullshit! Why are you blaming me for ruining your own life? This world is full of people who only know how to blame others.]

Normally, such an attitude alone would cause controversy. But in a situation where headlines were already filled with news of Ubers drivers being murdered because of the cash payment policy, imagine what would happen when words like this were broadcast.

The comment sections exploded instantly. Of course, no matter how arrogant or reckless the CEO might be, there was no way he would say such things at such a sensitive moment. This footage was actually recorded months ago. Bloomberg had been sitting on this scoop, waiting for the perfect timing.

And the moment I publicly dropped the keyword “Ubers CEO insulting drivers,” they rushed to publish it. If they hesitated even slightly, another outlet might steal the story.

Anyway.

Once the flames were lit, it was time to visit my client again.

“Have you seen enough this time?”

His attitude was very different now. Instead of confidently insisting “there’s no problem,” only a cold silence remained. It was proof that he was starting to waver, though he hadn’t fully crossed over yet.

However, I didn’t try to explain any further with words. As I had said, seeing is believing.

“Yes, it seems I still haven’t shown you enough. I will try to present it a little more clearly.”

Click.

I ended the call and picked up the die once more.

Clatter—

This time, the number was 11. This one wasn’t bad in terms of impact, either.

“The problem with Ubers’ leadership is not merely one of character. Their excessive competitiveness crosses legal boundaries. From what I’ve heard, Ubers hired former CIA operatives specifically to spy on competing firms.”

Mentioning the CIA always gets attention.

“Do you have proof?”

Of course not. But I didn’t need it. The moment I opened my mouth, it became a lead for a scoop, and news outlets would rush to investigate before their rivals could steal it.

And soon, this headline broke:

<Exclusive Shock Report: Ubers hires former CIA agents for corporate espionage against competitors>

No matter how fierce competition in Silicon Valley is, and no matter how intense the industrial spy wars get, would there really be companies hiring ex-CIA agents to conduct covert tracking?

Clatter—

This time, the number was 6.

“Ubers’ creativity doesn’t stop with service innovation. I’ve heard they operate with significant ‘creativity’ in the gray areas of law and regulation as well……”

<Breaking – Internal whistleblower reveals: “Ubers runs a ‘grey zone’ program to deceive regulators”>

Back when Ubers was under threat of shutdown for illegal operations, some state governments took a hardline stance and directly impounded vehicles. Their method was simple. Undercover officers would pose as passengers,