A Wall Street Genius’s Final Investment Playbook
Chapter 183

The company in which Ha Si-heon acquired a stake through the 13D disclosure was Herbalife.

It was a nutritional products company.

Thus, it seemed like an odd choice at first glance for Ha Si-heon, who managed a healthcare-focused fund, to become a major shareholder in such a company.

However, he boldly told the reporters this:

[The future of healthcare is ‘prevention'. Healthy lifestyle habits and nutritional management are now central to medical services. Herbalife symbolizes that future.]

Of course, very few believed this statement at face value.

[Anyone who knows Herbalife knows exactly how absurd this sounds! Ha Si-heon's real aim is one thing only—a short squeeze!]

Indeed.

It was common knowledge on Wall Street that Ackman currently held a $1 billion short position on Herbalife.

And Ha Si-heon's objective was clearly to attack that short position.

When the news spread, Wall Street was filled with shock and astonishment.

"What the hell…"

"Did he really just do that?"

It was a move nobody had anticipated.

Yet, only industry insiders could fully understand its implications.

A financial professor appearing on a TV broadcast eagerly attempted to explain the situation.

[This is an outrageous counterattack! The rational response here would have been to increase short positions or attempt a reverse gamma squeeze…!]

As the professor passionately banged on the table, the host quickly intervened to calm him down.

[Wait, professor. Many of our viewers aren't familiar with investing, so perhaps simplify a bit…]

[Right now, Ha Si-heon isn't merely attacking Ackman; he's changing the entire rulebook of short selling wars! He's doing something unbelievable!]

[So… while Ackman was all-in on Valeant, Ha Si-heon launched a flank attack on Herbalife instead. I understand this much.]

After receiving a pointed look from the host, the professor cleared his throat and spoke again.

[Yes, exactly. Meaning, if Ha Si-heon successfully drives up Herbalife's share price, Ackman will incur massive losses. And the bigger these losses become, the more Ackman will inevitably need to withdraw funds from elsewhere—namely Valeant.]

[Ah, so raising Herbalife’s stock price will cause Valeant's stock price to drop, is that right?]

Ha Si-heon's goal was clear.

To use Herbalife to inflict maximum losses on Ackman.

Currently, Ackman had all his firepower focused on Valeant, so Ha Si-heon aimed to force Ackman to spread his resources toward Herbalife.

At that moment, the professor raised his voice again, heatedly.

[But that's secondary! What's crucial here is that he confronted a short squeeze with another short squeeze! Do you understand? In a battle of short positions versus short squeezes, the short squeeze overwhelmingly has the upper hand due to the feedback loop from covering short positions and the year-end momentum. In other words, Ha Si-heon would have inevitably lost on Valeant, but he completely flipped it by changing the battlefield…!]

[Professor, again, a little simpler please…]

[Ah, is this still complicated? Goodness…]

The professor paused with an expression that said, ‘Do regular people really find even this difficult?', thought briefly, and then continued.

[Short selling wars are essentially wars of money. However, the nature of the money each side employs differs. The short seller uses water; the short squeezer uses fire.]

The professor stopped briefly and looked toward the host.

After confirming that the host nodded slightly, he continued.

[To extinguish fire, you need water—that's common sense. But to extinguish a massive fire, you need far more water. Sometimes, even pouring all the water you have isn't enough to put it out. And right now, since it's year-end, the wind isn't helping either…]

In a battle between shorts and short squeezes, the short squeeze fundamentally has an advantage.

Even though both sides use money as a weapon, their effectiveness differed greatly.

[But!]

The professor banged on the table again, his eyes wide open.

[Here, Ha Si-heon has actually started a counterfire!]

He raised his voice even higher, growing increasingly excited.

[And with Herbalife of all companies! This is like Ackman setting fire to my front yard, quietly disappearing without putting it out, and then Ha Si-heon suddenly showing up in Ackman's backyard and setting an entire mountain on fire!]

[Huh? But what about the fire in my yard…?]

[There will always be people continuing to set fires anyway, so trying to extinguish it right now would just waste water. So he's luring those people back to their own homes with a bigger fire, then planning to put out his own fire when no one's around!]

[Oh!]

[On the surface, it might seem rational, but who makes a decision like this when their own house is already burning down? That's why this makes no sense! It's complete madness! We're witnessing a short-selling war that happens once in a generation!]

***

"The reactions aren't bad."

When I said this and turned around, the faces of my team members, except Gonzalez, were all pale.

Among them, PM Laurent spoke first.

"What about revealing the scandal right now?"

We already had Valeant's weakness in hand.

If we disclosed it, the stock price would instantly plummet.

Yet, I hadn’t played this card yet.

I had various reasons, but the simplest was…

"We have to make the most profit when we can."

If I revealed it too soon, profits would be cut in half.

‘Of course, that's not the only reason.'

This card was a necessary setup for the moves I'd make later.

But explaining the whole plan now would be hard unless they knew I came from the future.

Honestly, Laurent’s anxiety, considering he knew nothing, was understandable.

"We’re currently flooded with redemption requests."

Investors were clamoring to withdraw their money.

Pareto Innovation had publicly declared a $1 billion short position against Valeant.

At that time, Valeant’s stock price was $135.

But now, it was nearing almost $600.

There had been no official announcement of our losses, but the market already assumed we suffered enormous damage.

Consequently, panicked investors were swarming to demand redemption.

But I shrugged.

"It’s fine. We’re still in the lock-in period, after all."

Lock-in period.

It referred to the initial fund period when withdrawing money was forbidden.

In other words, no matter how unhappy they were, they couldn't withdraw their money now anyway.

"This strategy is only viable at the beginning, so we might as well use it while we can."

Just then, Gonzalez suddenly clapped his hands after hearing my words.

He probably recalled the first bet I made back in Goldman.

Even then, I had tied down investors with regulations to keep them from fleeing, then went all-in on a single stock.

"But at that time, Genesis exploded," Gonzalez remarked, highlighting my past success with satisfaction.

But Laurent’s face remained gloomy.

"But, there are margin calls."

With the stock price rising this high, margin calls were inevitable.

Pareto’s margin call was a staggering $4.4 billion.

It was substantial, but—

"We hedged it with call options, didn't we? Using them as collateral, the actual outflow isn't that large."

Did they really think I would sit still, knowing the stock would rise?

Of course, I had taken out ‘insurance' with call options.

Options were essentially designed as ‘insurance' in the first place.

"But if the timing slips even slightly…"

"That's exactly the point. Valeant’s stock price—we can make it fall whenever we wish. So isn’t this actually an opportunity?"

The danger with short-selling and options was predicting precise ‘timing.'

But if we controlled that timing, the situation changed entirely.

This was actually an opportunity to generate profits twice over—earning when prices rise, and again when they fall.

"When you have reliable insurance, you should use it."

I hadn’t recklessly jumped into this without a plan; one of my basic principles was always securing insurance before lighting fires.

"But isn't it foolish to run toward every fire holding a gasoline can, even if you're insured?"

"No, it's the opposite. If you can collect insurance money without any harm, why avoid fires? You should run toward every fire you see and grab every profit you can."

Laurent still appeared uneasy.

‘Should I find a new PM…?'

The thought briefly crossed my mind, but honestly, replacing him wouldn't change much.

Most people naturally shrink back when stakes get too high—even on Wall Street.

‘Only three people in my entire past life never faltered under these conditions.'

Well, for now, let me explain.

I needed him to see the benefits of this situation.

"Do you remember who exposed Enron?"

Laurent shook his head, puzzled.

While the Enron scandal had shaken the financial world, few remembered exactly who had uncovered it.

‘And that's the key point.'

"In this war, what I want most isn't just money—it's fame."

But previously, the group that had exposed Valeant hadn't gained significant recognition.

"Fame…? But reckless moves like this could harm your reputation. Exactly what kind of fame are you aiming for, Sean?"

Before I could answer, Gonzalez and Doby spoke up for me.

"‘Mess with me, and you're screwed'?"

"‘A walking disaster—avoid at all costs'?"

I smiled and nodded lightly.

"It helps cut future costs. Fewer people will dare to underestimate me and start pointless fights."

"…Well, that's true enough."

Only then did Laurent finally nod.

‘Never provoke him.'

Such a reputation would be a powerful weapon on Wall Street, and it was authority money couldn’t buy.

"So, the most critical part of this situation is seizing a memorable image and narrative."

In that context, what I had in mind was clear.

The GameStop incident.

"Truly impactful moments often remain more vivid in memory than the final outcome."

Even though the retail investors ultimately lost, people didn’t remember them as losers.

They remembered one thing clearly:

The small investors who, even briefly, knocked Wall Street down a peg.

‘Will it go as smoothly this time…?'

Of course, this situation was very different.

Back then, pent-up anger and frustration during COVID lockdowns had become explosive fuel.

But now, without lockdowns, it wasn't the same environment.

Still, I had a reliable angle:

Ackman’s ruthless attacks had already stirred plenty of anger.

Besides…

‘If people get a chance to reclaim what they've lost, who would pass that up?'

"Just watch. Something interesting will happen."

***

Meanwhile, news of Ha Si-heon acquiring shares in Herbalife quickly spread among retail investors.

But their reactions differed sharply from Wall Street’s.

<Breaking: Sean abandons VX fanboys, switches to Herbalife War>

It was shocking news out of the blue.

About ten days remained until the December options expiry.

Most retail investors had placed put options below $70, while the share price was heading toward $600.

If the stock didn’t fall below $70, they'd lose their entire investment.

Just as fury started bubbling, another news broke out.

[It's a two-front battle! At this point, it's the strategy most likely to successfully crash Valeant's stock price…!]

Moments earlier, investors cursed him for ditching a losing battle to pursue an easier win.

But apparently, this wasn't betrayal…?

As small investors grew confused, news of Ha Si-heon’s subsequent moves trickled in.

Yet, something felt oddly familiar about this pattern.

<Icahn increases Herbalife holdings: 17% → 19%>

First, a major shareholder expanded his stake, stimulating market buying.

<Herbalife announces $500M share buyback>

Then the company itself announced a stock buyback.

46.53…

47.12…

48.74…

Following this news, Herbalife's previously sluggish price, stuck around $42, surged to $48 at once.

At this point, even novice investors felt déjà vu.

—Haven’t we seen this before…?

Of course, they had.

This was exactly what Ackman had done recently with Valeant.

There were multiple ways to execute a short squeeze, but Ha Si-heon deliberately mimicked Ackman’s method exactly.

The meaning was clear:

Could he really be repaying Ackman in the exact same way?

—Sean masters the art of Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V.

—Deliver justice to the 1%!

—This was revenge.

—Not just revenge—payback delivered in the same painful manner.

—It had been enraging to endure, but repaying it felt utterly thrilling.

Amid cheers, however, realistic concerns emerged.

—But… will this really work? Ackman’s margin-call defense is max level 999. Even if we squeeze him, his bank accounts will probably laugh.

—Ackman wasn't an amateur. A billionaire wouldn’t crumble easily under margin calls. Moreover…

—To succeed, we need Wall Street's help, but they're on Ackman's side.

—There's Grandpa Icahn.

—Grandpa Icahn’s due for retirement. Ackman has held him off for two years now…

For Ha Si-heon to succeed, Herbalife’s price had to skyrocket, which meant speculative Wall Street forces had to join in.

But hadn't they witnessed firsthand during the Valeant battle how Wall Street stood with Ackman, crushing small investors?

Would Wall Street really follow Ha Si-heon’s lead?

As skepticism mixed with hope, one investor proposed:

—Then why don't we buy Herbalife stock ourselves?

—Indeed. Retail investors didn’t have to merely watch; their buying would also push up the price.

—We join the short-squeeze party too lol.

— <Breaking> There's a ‘Buy' button in stocks, not just puts and calls!

— Wait, you're saying we can board the train to crush Ackman?

Some eagerly called for immediate participation, but many hesitated.

—This YOLO was my last one…

—[This user has no remaining assets.]

The wounds from Valeant were deep.

Veteran investors helpfully explained:

—This isn't shorting; it’s a short squeeze.

—Margin calls? Theta? None of that. Just buy and hold.

Short selling was a war of water and fire.

This time, the retail investors were the fire.

No margin calls or expiration dates this time.

As fire, their only job was simple:

Just don't sell.

Slowly convinced, retail investors began to move.

And soon…

49.23…

51.73…

53.02…

Herbalife’s stock started rapidly rising.

Yet…

The speed felt unusual.

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