Life at the Top

Time ticked by and it was now only three more minutes until the market opened and Sena went public. Jasper had been invited onto the temporarily built stage.

The stage was right under the largest main screen in Nasdaq Exchange Center, which was at the center of the room.

Under everyone’s attentive gaze, Jasper and Jack got on stage.

In the middle of the stage was a large bell.

Since Nasdaq Exchange’s founding, every business that went public would have its legal personality ring this bell.

It was a tradition as much as it was a symbol.

The electronic screen continued to display worlds of welcome like ‘Nasdaq welcomes Sena’ while hundreds of traders had already gotten into position. There were a few dozen reporters holding their cameras, waiting to take a picture of this historical moment.

Jasper accepted a wooden hammer from a manager in the exchange center and was just about to invite Jack to ring the bell with him when he saw the other shake his head with a smile.

“You should ring the bell yourself, Mr. Laine,” Jack spoke.

Although he was stunned, Jasper saw the shine in Jack’s eyes and did not insist. “Alright then.”

Everyone looked up and focused on the electronic screen that covered the entire wall. It displayed both Nasdaq’s and Sena’s logo, as well as an analog clock.

The second hand of the clock ticked continuously until it was almost racing to 9:30 a.m.

“5…

“4…

“3…

“2…

“1…”

Hundreds of people counted down at the same time in the exchange Center.

currently 9:30 a.m. in the United States, and Jasper knocked the wooden hammer against the bell, signifying the opening

Ring!

deep and strong sound of the

cheers, the reporters’ cameras flashed maddeningly as they tried to

on from the bursting of the dot-com bubble and

Its ticker—SENA!

and the group got down from the stage after they rang the bell. They began to pay attention to the changes

a little nerve-wracking.” A senior executive sucked in a deep

he smiled and said, “The share market in the United States has different rules compared to the markets back home. New shares here normally pay more attention to the pre-IPO on the first day of trading and the more shares bought pre-IPO make for a higher share price. It’ll take

tended to buy shares of new businesses through

US dollars

bought by investors through pre-IPO, the

was that there was not a 10% rise limit when it came to buying shares

if Sena was formidable enough, its prices

difficult would that

Impossibly hard.

was no longer as crazy as it used to be before the

world’s economic development slowed, trade also decreased in large exchange centers like Nasdaq, the Dow Jones

proved that investors were getting less enthusiastic and there was also less hot money in the

starting to be more rational and no longer rushed to one sector

facade was immense

Jasper watched the scene before

to interview Sena’s senior executives, and traders had already begun receiving phone calls while starting a

filled with the scent of

which added to the pressure

dollars had to grow at least five times to exceed

would dare to make such

with the long face?” Celine

turned to see Celine’s relaxed expression and laughed. “And here I am, worried about whether the share price will meet the

pinched Jasper’s shoulder and beamed at him. “Don’t worry about it. So what if it doesn’t hit the target we set? The point of Sena going