"Zhao, you should come to Tesla to be my CFO."
"You just fired the current CFO, I will not accept this offer." Zhao Chen made a rare joke.
Elon Musk laughed, and the laughter spread far across the empty wilderness of Boca Chica.
Next, Elon Musk personally took Zhao Chen to visit the entire Launch Site.
From the test bench of Raptor engine, to the stainless steel shell welding workshop of Starworm, to the row of RVs where the engineers live.
When he explained, he spoke very fast and made big gestures, like a child eager to share his favorite toy with his friends.
"Stainless steel. How much do you think this thing cost?"
Elon Musk patted the outer shell of Starworm, and the metal made a dull echo.
Zhao Chen shook his head.
"Almost two orders of magnitude cheaper than carbon fiber. If Starship is to be mass-produced, cost is the biggest enemy.
Use stainless steel, and if it explodes, it will explode, and the next one can be welded out in three days."
Elon Musk's eyes were shining with a light that was almost Euphoria's.
"The traditional aerospace thinking is 'cannot fail', but my way of thinking is 'failure must be cheap enough'.
As long as the cost of failure is low enough, you can fail enough times until you find the right path."
Zhao Chen stood below Starworm, looking up at this rough silver giant.
Before his rebirth, he had seen the successful video of Starworm Tethered Test on the news.
The picture quality of the video was very poor, and the camera was shaking badly. Starworm slowly rose to an altitude of twenty meters in the thick smoke, hovered for less than a minute, and then landed smoothly.
Half of the people in the comment area were laughing, "Isn't this just a flying Stainless Steel Water Tower?" and the other half were saying, "This is the future of human spaceflight."
No one knows that many years later, the descendants of this "flying Stainless Steel Water Tower" will send humans to Mars.
At the end of the visit, Elon Musk sent Zhao Chen to the entrance of the base.
"The launch is scheduled for the afternoon of the day after tomorrow.
I really can't spare time to accompany you these two days. The ignition sequence of Raptor engine still needs to be adjusted. You can go to Texas or go to New York to handle your matters.
Just come back on time the day after tomorrow."
Zhao Chen shook hands with him.
"See you the day after tomorrow."
After returning to the hotel, Zhao Chen stood in the room for a while.
Su Wantang was packing his suitcase when he suddenly spoke.
"Wantang, go to New York."
Su Wantang raised his head and glanced at him.
His expression didn't change much, but she could hear something in his tone -
That was not the tone of discussion, but the calmness after a decision had been made.
"Now?"
"Now."
Lin Shicheng is as efficient as ever.
Three hours later, the three people had boarded the flight from Brownsville to New York.
On the plane, Lin Shicheng opened a thick summary of transaction records and handed it to Zhao Chen.
The paper glowed soft white under the cabin lights, and the numbers on it were densely packed, but every stroke was clear.
"Zhao Zong, Nvidia's position opening has been completed.
Era Vanguard The total investment in this round is 3.36 billion US Dollar, including 1.68 billion in self-owned funds and 1.68 billion in one-to-one leverage financing.
The financing channel has been split into five different institutions, each of which does not exceed 400 million, and it is impossible to piece together a complete picture."
He turned to the summary page.
"The total share capital of Nvidia is 605 million shares.
We purchased a total of 22 million shares, accounting for approximately 3.64% of the total share capital of Nvidia, and the comprehensive average cost was approximately 152 US Dollar.
All positions were completed with a market value below 90 billion US Dollar, and the lowest transaction price occurred around November 20th.
At that time, the stock price of Nvidia once hit 144.7 US Dollar, and the market value fell to about 88.2 billion. We took the last batch of chips near this price."
Zhao Chen took the document and scanned the numbers with his eyes.
3.36 billion US Dollar, 22 million shares, cost of 152 US Dollar.
Viewed on the scale of the entire Wall Street, this transaction can be regarded as a fairly large-scale position opening.
But among the total 600 million shares of Nvidia, the shareholding ratio of 3.64% is low-key enough.
"Well done." He closed the file, "But it's not enough."
Lin Shicheng's fingers stopped on the armrest.
"Zhao Zong means?"
"Nvidia, I want to get more shares from this ticket."
Zhao Chen's voice is not high-pitched, but every word is pronounced very steadily.
"The position of 3.36 billion and the shareholding ratio of 3.64% are not enough.
The explosive demand for AI Computing Power will push Nvidia's Data Center business to a height that no one can imagine in the next few years.
The moat of CUDA ecosystem is much deeper than what is seen in the entire Wall Street now."
Lin Shicheng was silent.
Only the low roar of the engine was left in the cabin.
"Zhao Zong, I understand your judgment on Nvidia.
But there is one thing I must remind you again - the leverage ratio of Era Vanguard on Nvidia is already one to one.
If you continue to increase leverage, Risk Exposure will increase sharply.
Do you remember SoftBank Masayoshi Son? Once the news of his liquidation of Nvidia is officially announced, the stock price may go to another level."
Zhao Chen leaned on the back of the chair and looked at the clouds outside the porthole.
"For subsequent funds, there is no need to increase leverage. Use the shares of Tesla as equity pledge."
Lin Shicheng's brows jumped slightly, but he didn't interrupt.
"Please help me calculate, the 16.6 million shares of Tesla held by Era Vanguard,
Calculated based on the current stock price range of 350 US Dollar to 365 US Dollar, the market value is approximately 5.86 billion US Dollar.
If you pledge your equity to an investment bank, Pledge Ratio 50%, how much money can you get?"
Lin Shicheng There was almost no pause as the numbers came out of his mouth.
"Based on the middle price of 360 US Dollar, there are 16.6 million shares, with a total market value of approximately 5.98 billion US Dollar.
The equity pledged Pledge Ratio is usually between 50% and 60%. For highly volatile stocks like Tesla, large investment banks will adopt a conservative value, which is 50%.
The available pledged funds are approximately 2.99 billion US Dollar, which is equivalent to about 3 billion."
Zhao Chen nodded.
"Three billion US Dollar, even without leverage, is enough to buy more than 20 million shares.
Together with the existing 22 million shares, the total holdings can reach more than 40 million shares, accounting for nearly 7% of the total share capital of Nvidia.
If it takes a long time for subsequent funds to arrive, if you pledge and buy in batches, you can achieve more than 5% at the most conservative level."
Lin Shicheng was silent for a long time.
The clouds outside the porthole turned into a golden sea in the sunset.
The plane was passing through time zones, and the light outside the window changed at a speed that was almost imperceptible to the naked eye, from golden to orange, and then to deep purple.
"Zhao Zong," Lin Shicheng finally spoke, his voice was much slower than before,
"Equity pledge and leverage financing, from the perspective of Risk Exposure, are essentially the same thing.
If the stock price of Tesla drops sharply, the pledged stocks will face pressure to cover their positions. If they cannot cover their positions, the investment bank has the right to dispose of the pledged property.
At that time, Era Vanguard may be forced to reduce its holdings of Tesla at the most unfavorable price, which may even affect SpaceX's subsequent investment ability."
He paused.
"I'm not questioning your judgment. It's my job to tell you the worst-case scenario. You don't have to listen, but I have to say it."
Zhao Chen turned his head and looked at him.
"Lawyer Lin, do you know why I leave all the legal affairs and risk control of Era Vanguard to you?"
Lin Shicheng has no answer.
"Because you'll say things I don't want to hear."
The cabin was quiet for a few seconds. The corner of Zhao Chen's mouth raised a slight arc.
"Tesla's equity pledge will be 25% first.
Three billion US Dollar is not in a hurry to put it all in at once, pledge it in batches, and buy it in batches.
The pledge ratio is controlled within half, leaving enough safety cushion for the stock price fluctuation of Tesla.
Even if the stock price of Tesla drops from 360 to 200, the value of the collateral is still enough to cover the financing amount and will not be lost to Forced Liquidation."
He held up a finger.
"In addition, the follow-up buying of Nvidia will slow down. Don't burn out all the bullets before the news of the clearance of SoftBank comes out.
After the release of Masayoshi Son and Selling Pressure, the market will give a better entry window.
Our goal is not to buy at the lowest point, but to get enough chips in the bottom range."
Lin Shicheng's brows slowly relaxed.
He lowered his head and quickly wrote a few lines in his notebook, then raised his head.