RR 41
[041] Luck Also Comes in Flocks? 3.
“But will Sumitomo really hand over its epoxy manufacturing technology to us? Would competitors like NEC, Hitachi, or Toshiba just stand by? It’s like handing over the dagger, isn’t it?”
When Chairman Jin brought up a realistic concern, Lee Hak-jae smiled subtly and presented an ingenious solution.
“There’s no connection between the chemical company in Cheonan and Sunyang. We can just acquire that company with the money currently dormant in Miracle.”
Just now, Lee Hak-jae offered a solution on how to use the 100 billion won that might otherwise be forever unrecoverable due to the financial real-name system.
A smile spread across Chairman Jin’s face as he thumped the desk.
“Proceed. Immediately.”
As soon as Chairman Jin gave his permission, Lee Hak-jae immediately called in Oh Se-hyun.
.
.
A New Investment, A New Strategy
“Director Lee. You’re not going to repeat the same thing, are you?”
“Something different. I need to make an investment.”
Oh Se-hyun winced at Lee Hak-jae’s relaxed smile. Could it be that he’d found a way to recover the money?
“Investment, you say?”
“Representative Oh. You can’t say you can’t invest our money somewhere else, can you?”
“It’s possible. But it would be an investment under the name of Miracle, not Sunyang Group. Is that right?”
“Of course. Absolutely. However, Sunyang will have influence over the invested company. You can do at least that much, right?”
“Do you mean you’ll dispatch an executive-level person and exercise management rights?”
“Naturally.”
“I see. Then that company… What’s its name?”
“It’s a company called Eugene Chemical. It’s in Cheonan.”
“Coordinate the details with that company and let me know. I’ll send the money right away.”
For the first time in a long time, the two finished their meeting without raising their voices.
When I read the report in Grandfather’s study and learned this fact, I understood why Sumitomo Chemical kept bothering me.
It was a bomb that could be used at a crucial moment. But Grandfather had preempted this bomb.
The fortunate thing was that I was involved because of Miracle.
And I also got another chance to earn Grandfather’s admiration.
I didn’t let go of the report until Grandfather entered the study.
“Hmm? Do-jun. What are you looking at now?”
Grandfather seemed surprised as I quickly put the documents back on the desk.
“Oh, well…”
“Did you sneak a peek at the documents again?”
Again? Did that mean he already knew?
“You rascal. Why are you so surprised? Did you think I wouldn’t know?”
Seeing his smiling face, I knew he wasn’t angry. I hung my head and scratched it.
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s alright. I actually find it admirable. You’re the only one who takes such an interest in company affairs.”
Grandfather patted my shoulder and nodded.
“Alright, how is it? Do you understand what it’s about?”
I deliberately showed hesitation, so he pressed for my answer.
“It’s alright. Tell me. Weren’t you interested in Sumitomo?”
“So Sumitomo is stopping production and transferring technology, and Grandfather is going to buy that technology, right? By fronting a small to medium-sized company.”
“Yes.”
“Grandfather, would you transfer this technology to a Japanese company, even if it’s not a direct competitor?”
“What did you say?”
“Doesn’t it feel a bit off? Japan is ahead in semiconductors, and Korea is closing in. This isn’t just a company-to-company issue anymore. It’s competition between nations.”
“Japan won’t transfer it to Korea?”
“Wouldn’t Sumitomo Chemical’s chairman often dine with the presidents of Japanese electronics companies? You also dine with other group chairmen, Grandfather. You’d share all sorts of stories then, wouldn’t you?”
Grandfather’s eyebrows twitched. He realized he had thought too simply.
“I think those people would try to stop core technology from going to Korea. That’s just my opinion, though.”
“So?”
If I only said this much, I’d be considered moderately useful. But as always, I shouldn’t end with criticism. I had to offer an alternative.
“If it were me, I’d front a Taiwanese chemical company. Not a Korean company…”
“Taiwan?”
“Taiwan is a cooperating nation to both Korea and Japan.”
Taiwan holds a very important position in the semiconductor industry. This is because it takes on the crucial roles of foundry and packaging.
While Korea and Japan encompass the entire process from semiconductor design to production, Taiwan focused on foundries, or contract manufacturing. As a result, it dominated 65% of the global foundry market and became a semiconductor powerhouse.
“Choosing a symbiotic nation instead of a competitor?”
“If it were me.”
No need to explain further. Grandfather had already picked up the phone.
“Tell Director Lee and the Electronics President, and the guy from Trading who handles Taiwan, to come here quickly.”
As Grandfather put down the receiver, his eyes overflowed with affection for me.
“Do-jun knows a lot about semiconductors.”
“The newspapers and broadcasts talked about it so much that I studied it on my own.”
His gaze held double the affection as he looked at me.
.
.
High School Life and a Grand Entrance
The high school I attended was the same one my brother Sang-jun went to. It was a private school overflowing with children from so-called well-to-do families.
There were the ‘True Bone’ class chaebol family scions and the ‘Noble Bone’ class children of high-ranking officials. For example, those from families of five-term or more veteran national assembly members, party leaders, or prime ministers and ministers were called ‘Noble Bone.’
Following them were the ‘Head Rank 6’ children from families with numerous prosecutors, judges, or lawyers, and even the bloodlines of media company presidents.
The lowest rank were the children of salaried employees, not owners. These were typically executive-level positions, including affiliate presidents.
However, there was only a slight difference in how the teachers treated them, and the sense of disparity among students wasn’t significant. As expected for an age where attraction to the opposite sex begins, appearance was the most important factor.
My brother Sang-jun, who was nothing special, garnered immense popularity among female students thanks to inheriting a lot of genes from our mother, who was a beautiful actress.
I, a freshman, was an equally captivating subject of interest.
Since we inherited the same genes, my good looks were no less than Sang-jun’s, but there was a huge difference in how I treated female students and my academic performance.
Unlike my brother, who was kind to every approaching female student, I showed no interest whatsoever. I was busy with studies and work. I didn’t have a single second to invest in childish romance games.
“Are you really going to sell it off?”
“Think about Dell Computer last year. After we sold it for $49, what happened to the stock price? It plummeted to the $10 mark and is only now slowly recovering a year later. SoftBank will be even worse. Right now, it’s just a distribution company.”
“But SoftBank is continuously expanding its business scope. What about the potential value of that part?”
Oh Se-hyun no longer tried to persuade me. He always exchanged opinions and followed my lead. It wasn’t because of our relationship as a major shareholder and professional manager. He respected my investment sense, which had never failed.
“In Japan, M&A has a more negative perception. The more SoftBank continues M&A, the more its stock price will fall. The results of M&A won’t appear until much later. President Son Jung-ui, he looks far ahead. But investors have no patience. They only look at what’s in front of them.”
In July 1994, SoftBank successfully went public.
The share price was 18,900 yen. It listed at its highest price ever.
After listing, SoftBank instantly gained a massive 200 billion yen. President Son Jung-ui immediately declared aggressive M&A, and his eyes turned to the global stage.
My $230 million investment became $850 million, earning me $620 million in just one year.
I pulled out before SoftBank’s bubble burst and stopped aggressive investments.
For three years in high school, I focused solely on my studies. My only hobby was occasionally investing in Hollywood movies, and investing in James Cameron’s Titanic, which everyone was worried about, was the closest thing to an adventure.
Hollywood’s conventional wisdom was that blockbusters set against a water background always failed, and as if to prove it, Kevin Costner’s blockbuster Waterworld flopped spectacularly. Because of this, Titanic struggled to attract investors.
Thanks to this, the film production company, 20th Century Fox, welcomed Miracle’s substantial investment and successfully concluded the investment contract without much fuss.
.
.
The College Entrance Exam and Its Aftermath
Fortunately, my brother Sang-jun graduated from high school without any major incidents. Of course, he didn’t get grades good enough to enter a decent university, so he quickly left to study abroad in America.
A leaky bucket inside will leak outside, but since he received not even a fingernail’s worth of family interest and expectation, it was rather fortunate for Sang-jun.
It wasn’t difficult for him to secretly enroll where he wanted—probably music.
Now, all eyes were on me, the only senior in high school among the third generation of Sunyang Group.
Would the first Seoul National University acceptance finally come from our family?
Some watched my grades with curious eyes, some with wary eyes, and the only ones who watched me with expectation were my parents and grandfather.
My senior year of high school, which began with the announcement of Seo Taiji and Boys’ disbandment, ended on November 13, 1996.
Regardless of whether they were rich or poor, it was a day when all parents in South Korea earnestly prayed and sent their children off. It was the Suneung (College Scholastic Ability Test) day.
My mother prayed without stopping in front of the school, the test venue, until the exam ended, and Grandfather badgered his secretary all day checking the Suneung’s ending time.
Confidently, I took the exam paper, but I immediately fell into a mental breakdown from the very first question. I thought I’d solve the problems in an instant, but I got stuck on the first one.
The only solace I found was the groans coming from various parts of the classroom.
It would be fortunate if it was due to the overall difficulty, but I couldn’t be sure.
I composed myself and focused on the exam.
How many one-on-one private tutors were hired for me, compared to hundreds of times the money spent by an average family on academies?
I needed to get incredible grades to match the enormous investment and save face… Damn it, it won’t be easy.
As I left the exam hall, my mother hugged me with a worried expression.
“It was tough, wasn’t it? It’s okay. It’s all over now.”
“Do-jun. Relax your expression. It was even on the news. They said this year’s Suneung was the most difficult ever. Don’t worry too much.”
I felt a little relieved when my father told me the breaking news.
Let’s not expect too much.
It just needs to be as good as I boasted. I prayed for only enough to get into Seoul National University Law School.
.
.
The Chairman’s Bragging Rights
“Our youngest, you know, he’s ranked 39th nationwide? Huh? No, not just in the school, but nationwide! If you only look at liberal arts, he’s 10th nationwide. The Suneung exam is out of 400 points, right? He got 367 points, 367 points. Only 6 points shy of the national first place. At that level, well, isn’t that just a difference in condition? Hahaha.”
Chairman Jin had already received a memo with the results a day before the Suneung scores were officially announced.
As soon as he confirmed the score, he had to contact his grandson, but there was an even more important person he needed to inform first.
It was the chairman of Daehyun Group.
“Only someone who gets into Seoul National University Law School truly deserves to be called ‘studious.’ And our grandson, would Seoul National University even be good enough for him? He’ll choose between Harvard or Oxford. Oh, right, he’ll have to pay full tuition as scholarships are for children from less fortunate families… But he’s so smart, I can’t really turn down a scholarship… This is quite awkward, really.”
Chairman Jin felt a huge weight lifted off his chest after ending the call. He savored a sense of victory incomparable to when Sunyang Group surpassed Daehyun Group in sales and achieved first place in the heavy industry sector.
“Alright, let’s see… Who else should I rub it in for…?”
After scrolling through the numbers saved on his phone and making calls to a dozen or so places, he suddenly remembered and summoned an executive from the group’s public relations office.
“Take a look at this.”
The executive, who received the memo, bowed his head deeply and exclaimed.
“Congratulations, Chairman.”
“Congratulations are fine, but subtly leak this. Make sure reporters get some photos of our Do-jun tomorrow.”
“What?”
“Why is this fellow so slow-witted? Why are you surprised? What do people think? They whisper that children of large group chairmen get into prestigious private universities with money and connections. Can you buy Suneung scores like this with money? Can you get them with connections? Make sure such talk doesn’t come up again.”
“Ah, yes. I understand, Chairman.”
After the PR executive left, Chairman Jin couldn’t stop smiling for a long time, then suddenly felt a pang of regret.
The thought that he wouldn’t be able to see Do-jun for at least five years if he studied abroad crossed his mind.
A grandson he loved dearly… He wanted to keep him close. Forever.
Post Comment