Recaps

Zhao Chen led Era Vanguard through a GameStop short squeeze, building a 9.9 percent stake before selling its shares and options as major short sellers covered. After exiting GME, he turned to a brief silver trade and accelerated Era Vanguard’s covert accumulation of deliverable nickel.

• Zhao Chen ordered Era Vanguard to build its GME stake, then filed a 13G disclosing a 7.03 percent holding and directed Lin Shicheng to keep buying below the ownership limit.
• As GME surged and short interest fell, Zhao Chen raised Era Vanguard’s stake to 9.9 percent while DFV and WallStreetBets rallied retail investors to hold their shares.
• New short sellers entered the market, but rising GME prices forced Elliott and other funds to cover at heavy losses as Zhao Chen kept Era Vanguard’s remaining capacity in reserve.
• After GME passed $200, Zhao Chen ordered Lin Shicheng to sell shares in batches while leaving options positions untouched, and Melvin Capital and Point72 began covering their shorts.
• Era Vanguard sold successive batches as GME climbed, then covered more options and shares when Iceberg Research and Citadel faced pressure to exit.
• When Robinhood rejected GME buy orders and the stock plunged, Lin Shicheng sold Era Vanguard’s remaining shares, leaving the firm with about $3.8 billion in net proceeds.
• After Shen Zhiyi confirmed settlement and compliance, Zhao Chen directed a limited SLV options trade and ordered faster covert purchases of deliverable-grade nickel through offshore entities.
• Zhao Chen assigned his team to monitor silver hedging, SPV compliance, and nickel warrants, then approved more than $80 million in SLV calls and set a target of acquiring over 200,000 tonnes of deliverable nickel.