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CH152 | GSI
🕑 Added 2025-02-21 03:30:01 +0000 UTCAs the four of them continued their conversation in a warm and friendly atmosphere, Landon checked the time on his Rolex wristwatch and spoke.
"In ten minutes, the stock will be listed. We should start heading outside."
"Is it already that time?"
Seok-won glanced at Tom and Vice President Bill, who were sitting beside him.
"We can't miss this once-in-a-lifetime moment. Shall we head out?"
"Y-yeah."
Tom, looking tense once again, nodded and stood up to follow him.
The four of them left the executive office and walked straight toward the spacious trading center.
Beyond the large glass windows, the deep blue East River stretched out below. Inside the trading center, employees sat in front of multiple monitors, busily conducting trades as usual.
At first, the trading center had seemed spacious, but as the number of employees steadily increased—now exceeding forty—it started to feel crowded.
'If the fund keeps growing and we hire more staff, this space will become too cramped. We should expand the office soon.'
With that thought in mind, Seok-won turned his gaze toward the large ticker board in front of him.
Covering an entire wall, the massive board displayed an overwhelming number of stock codes, including the Dow and NASDAQ indices. The numbers flickered and changed at a relentless pace, as if they were part of a living, breathing organism.
Looking at Tom, who stood beside him with a rigid expression, Seok-won spoke.
"Once the stock is listed, a four-letter trading code approved by the NASDAQ committee will appear on that board."
"Phew."
Tom exhaled deeply, trying to calm his nerves. Clenching and unclenching his fists, he muttered, "This is nerve-wracking."
Vice President Bill, standing nearby, also stared at the massive ticker board with a mixture of anxiety and anticipation.
Although the IPO had been completed despite intense competition, there was still a lingering worry—if the stock price plummeted after listing, their success would only be partial.
But Seok-won, already knowing the outcome, remained composed. He turned to Landon with a slight smile.
"You brought the $100, right?"
"Of course. Crisp, new bills—no need to worry."
Tom tilted his head in confusion at the sudden exchange, about to ask what they meant, but before he could, Landon spoke again.
"One minute left."
As the designated time approached, the traders put down their phones and stopped typing on their keyboards. Instead, they all turned their attention to the massive ticker board.
This was clear evidence of the high anticipation and interest surrounding Netscape's stock listing.
Holding their breath, everyone waited.
Then, precisely at 1:00 PM, Netscape's stock was officially listed, and the ticker board displayed the trading code NSCP.
"It's up!"
Even though Seok-won had known the outcome in advance, he couldn't help but swallow dryly as the moment finally arrived.
A few minutes passed, and a sense of unease gradually spread across the faces of those watching the ticker board.
Although the stock code had appeared, the price remained frozen, refusing to budge.
[NSCP 28 – 0.00]
As Seok-won furrowed his brows at the stagnant stock price, Tom anxiously shifted his weight from foot to foot.
"Why is this happening?"
"I have no idea... What on earth...?"
Vice President Bill, equally tense, stared at him with a rigid expression.
Since the stock had officially been listed, there should have been some movement—whether up or down. But seeing it completely frozen was a first for Seok-won as well.
Though inwardly perplexed, he remained composed and calmly turned to Landon.
"Contact the NASDAQ committee and find out what's going on."
"Understood."
Landon, just as bewildered, immediately walked over to a nearby desk to make the call.
At that moment, Andrew, the senior investment chief standing near the traders at the front, suddenly exclaimed.
"Wait, what? Are you serious?"
His previously stiff expression softened, and a wave of relief washed over his face.
"Got it. Thanks."
Andrew set down the receiver and quickly approached Seok-won.
"Boss, Nasdaq just called. There's been a system issue, temporarily halting Netscape's stock trading."
"How could they let something like this happen on such an important day?"
Seok-won scowled in frustration.
It was only natural to be annoyed—having a technical failure right at the start of their first day of trading was unacceptable.
However, strangely enough, Andrew’s face wasn’t tense with concern; instead, he wore a broad grin.
"The reason for the system failure was an overwhelming surge in traffic."
"Huh?"
"What...?"
Tom, Bill, and Landon blinked in confusion, unable to immediately grasp the meaning.
But Seok-won’s eyes lit up in realization.
"Wait—are you saying that there were so many buy orders that the system crashed?"
"Exactly. They’re expanding the network bandwidth as we speak, so trading should resume shortly."
Andrew nodded, his voice tinged with excitement.
Hearing this, Tom looked around in disbelief.
"Hold on. Are you saying that so many people rushed to buy our stock that the servers went down?"
"That’s right."
Seok-won grinned.
Tom, still dazed, let out a breathless chuckle.
"Hah... Haha."
Beside him, Vice President Bill’s face turned red with excitement as he clenched his fists tightly.
"It seems the demand for Netscape stock is even greater than I anticipated."
Just as Seok-won finished speaking, one of the traders suddenly shouted.
"The stock price is moving!"
Everyone quickly turned to look at the large ticker board in front of them.
Just moments ago, Netscape’s stock had been frozen in place, but now it was soaring like a rocket.
[NSCP 41.35 ▲ +13.35]
.
.
[NSCP 72.15 ▲ +44.15]
"It more than doubled in an instant—this is insane!"
"Buy orders are flooding in like crazy!"
"Unbelievable… Is this even real?"
"No wonder Nasdaq’s servers crashed."
"At this rate, it’ll break $80 in no time."
Traders couldn’t contain their excitement as they watched the stock price skyrocket.
There had been plenty of stocks that hit the jackpot upon going public, but none had surged more than double the IPO price within minutes like Netscape.
What made this even more shocking was the widespread skepticism about the company’s valuation. Netscape had zero profits and was actually losing millions of dollars every month. Many had argued that the initial offering price of $28 per share was already too high—making this result even more astounding.
Even more astonishing was that, despite surpassing $70, the buying frenzy showed no signs of slowing down. Orders were still pouring in at a relentless pace.
Within less than ten minutes of trading, Netscape’s stock had smashed through the $80 mark.
[NSCP 84.73 ▲ +56.73]
In the blink of an eye, Netscape's market capitalization had tripled, exceeding $4.8 billion.
Tom Harper stood frozen, staring at the ticker board in disbelief as his net worth skyrocketed past $1.5 billion in real time.
Seok-won, who owned 30% of Netscape, also saw his fortune surge dramatically.
With both hands casually tucked into his pockets, Seok-won nudged Tom’s shoulder.
"How does it feel to be a billionaire?"
"This isn’t a dream, right?"
Tom’s head was spinning as he watched the numbers climb higher with each blink.
"If you don’t believe it, I can slap you to make sure."
"Would you?"
Seeing Tom actually ready to offer up his cheek, Seok-won chuckled and reassured him.
"Haha. It’s all real. Just enjoy the moment."
Tears welled up in Tom’s eyes as he looked at Seok-won.
"Thank you. I never would’ve made it here without you."
Seok-won gave a small smile.
"I should be the one thanking you. Because of you, I just made a fortune, too."
At those words, Tom grinned, finally grasping the reality that he had become a billionaire overnight.
"I guess so. Either way, this is the greatest day of my life."
"This is just the beginning. It’s way too early to be satisfied with this."
"What?"
Tom widened his eyes in surprise and asked,
"Are you saying the stock price will go even higher from here?"
Hearing their conversation, Vice President Bill and Landon also looked at Seok-won with skeptical expressions.
But with unwavering confidence, Seok-won firmly declared,
"Of course. Everyone already wanted this stock badly enough, and now they’ve just witnessed it doubling and tripling in an instant. That’ll only make them more desperate to buy it."
"But it’s already risen this much. Would people really be willing to pay even more?"
"Precisely because they’ve seen it rise so much, they’ll want to buy before it climbs even higher."
"Does that even make sense?"
Seok-won gave Tom a knowing look.
"Never underestimate human greed. The stock market thrives on hope and greed."
Then, he muttered to himself,
"And the moment greed turns into madness—that's when a bubble is born."
Unaware of Seok-won’s deeper thoughts, Tom stared blankly at the screen, half-dazed.
"The stock price will rise even more from here…?"
"You'll see soon enough whether I’m right."
So far, Seok-won had never been wrong. Despite their doubts, the three men turned their attention back to the ever-rising stock price.
The momentum showed no signs of slowing. If anything, the excitement only seemed to intensify as time passed.
As they all silently watched in awe, Seok-won suddenly spoke as if he had just remembered something.
"At this point, I think it’s safe to say I won our bet, right?"
"Yes."
Landon admitted his loss without hesitation.
Netscape’s market cap had already exceeded $1 billion during the IPO stage, and now, the stock price had tripled upon listing. There was no denying that he had lost the bet.
Landon pulled out a crisp, new $100 bill from his wallet and handed it to Seok-won.
"Here you go."
"Much appreciated."
Seok-won smiled as he pocketed the bill.
Then, giving a light pat on the backs of Tom and Bill—who were still glued to the stock ticker—he slyly winked.
"The market’s not closed yet, but I don’t think we need to keep watching. Let’s head to my office. I’ve prepared a bottle of 1985 Romanée-Conti for this occasion."
Hearing that, Landon—an avid wine enthusiast—licked his lips in anticipation.
"No way we’re letting a day like this pass without a toast."
"Absolutely."
Even Bill, usually the most reserved of the group, was swept up in the excitement and looked more relaxed than usual.
"I think even I need a drink today."
Tom, unable to hide his flushed face, eagerly nodded in agreement.
Seok-won took the lead and started walking.
"Then let’s go."
There was a brief moment when the upward momentum halter, but by the end of its first trading day, Netscape’s stock had soared to $89.31 per share.
It was a historic record—the highest first-day gain in Nasdaq history.
Unsurprisingly, as soon as the market closed, Bloomberg and every major media outlet ran headline stories about this unprecedented event.
As a result, investors, who were already buzzing with excitement over Netscape as the most promising company of the internet era, became even more ecstatic. Interest in the stock exploded overnight.
The frenzy continued into the next day. By the second day of trading, Netscape easily surpassed the $100 mark per share.
It was a mad surge, yet instead of fearing a crash, investors became even more aggressive in their buying.
This was the starting gun—the moment that launched the dot-com bubble, a frenzied market craze that would grip the late 1990s, not just in the United States but across the entire world.
TL/n -
Netscape's IPO (Initial Public Offering) took place on August 9, 1995. It was a historic event in the dot-com era, as the company's stock price surged dramatically on its first trading day. Here are some key details:
- Initial offering price: $28 per share
- First-day closing price: $58.25 per share
- Peak price on the first day: $75
- Amount raised: About $160 million
- Market valuation: $2.9 billion at the close of the first trading day
Netscape's IPO signaled the beginning of the internet boom, making it one of the most famous tech IPOs of all time. It also contributed to the growing excitement around internet-based companies, leading to the late-1990s dot-com bubble.
