Chapter 41: An Unexpected Investment
by xennovel“But will Sumitomo hand over their epoxy manufacturing technology to us? Won’t competitors like NEC, Hitachi, and Toshiba sit still? It’s practically handing over the reins.”
Chairman Jin raised a practical concern, prompting Lee Hak-jae to offer a clever solution with a sly grin.
“There’s no connection between the chemical company in Cheonan and Soonyang. We can acquire it using the funds tucked away in Miracle.”
Lee Hak-jae had just presented a solution for how to use the hundred billion won that might otherwise be lost forever due to the real-name financial transaction system.
A smile spread across Chairman Jin’s face as he sharply tapped the desk.
“Proceed. Immediately.”
With Chairman Jin’s approval, Lee Hak-jae immediately called Oh Se-hyun.
* * *
“Chief Lee, surely you’re not going to repeat the same story, are you?”
“A different story. I need to make some investments.”
Oh Se-hyun felt a pang of unease at Lee Hak-jae’s relaxed smile. Could he have found a way to recover the money?
“Investments, you say?”
“CEO Oh, surely you can’t say we can’t invest our own money elsewhere, can you?”
“It’s possible. But the investment will be under Miracle’s name, not Soonyang Group’s. Correct?”
“Of course, of course. However, Soonyang will hold the influence over the invested company. You can agree to that much, right?”
“Are you implying you’ll dispatch an executive and exercise management control?”
“Naturally.”
“I see. So, what’s the company’s name?”
“Yujin Chemical. It’s in Cheonan.”
“Coordinate the specifics with that company and let me know. I’ll send the funds immediately.”
For the first time in a while, their meeting concluded without raised voices.
When I saw the report in grandfather’s study, I understood why Sumitomo Chemical had been bothering me.
It was a bomb to be used at a critical moment. But grandfather had snatched it up first.
The only saving grace was that I also had a foot in the door thanks to Miracle.
And I’d gained another opportunity to impress grandfather.
I didn’t take my eyes off the report until grandfather entered the study.
“Hm? Do-jun, what are you looking at?”
Grandfather seemed surprised by my hurried attempt to put the documents back on the desk.
“Ah, well….”
“Were you snooping through documents again?”
Again? Did he already know?
“You rascal. Why are you so surprised? Did you think I wouldn’t notice?”
His smiling face indicated he wasn’t angry. I lowered my head and scratched it.
“Sorry.”
“It’s alright. Actually, I’m rather impressed. You’re the only one showing this much interest in company matters.”
Grandfather patted my shoulder and nodded.
“So, what do you think? Do you understand the contents?”
I deliberately hesitated, prompting him to press for an answer.
“It’s fine, go ahead. You were interested in Sumitomo, weren’t you?”
“So, Sumitomo is halting production and handing over the technology, and you’re planning to buy it using a small, unassuming company, is that right?”
“Yes.”
“If you were in charge, would you hand this technology over to a Japanese company, even if they weren’t a direct competitor?”
“What?”
“Doesn’t it make you uneasy? Japan is ahead in semiconductors, and Korea is catching up fast. This isn’t just a matter between companies anymore; it’s a competition between nations.”
“Japan wouldn’t hand it over to Korea?”
“Wouldn’t the president of Sumitomo Chemical often dine with the presidents of Japanese electronics companies? You also have meals with other group chairmen, Grandfather. You’d discuss these things.”
Grandfather’s eyebrows twitched. He realized he had oversimplified things.
“I think they’d try to stop core technology from going to Korea.”
“So?”
Saying only this would make me seem like a decent enough kid. But as always, ending with criticism wasn’t enough. I needed to offer an alternative.
“I’d use a Taiwanese chemical company. Not a Korean one….”
“Taiwan?”
“Taiwan is a cooperative partner for both Korea and Japan.”
Taiwan held a crucial position in the semiconductor industry, playing major roles in foundries and packaging.
While Korea and Japan covered everything from semiconductor design to production, Taiwan focused on foundries, specifically contract manufacturing. As a result, they dominated 65% of the global foundry market and became a semiconductor powerhouse.
“Choosing a partner rather than a competitor?”
“If it were me.”
There was no need for further explanation. Grandfather had already picked up the phone receiver.
“Get Chief Lee and the president of Electronics here. And someone from Logistics who handles Taiwan, quickly.”
After hanging up, Grandfather’s eyes were filled with affection as he looked at me.
“Do-jun knows a lot about semiconductors.”
“The newspapers and broadcasts talk about it so much, I studied it a bit on my own.”
The affection in his gaze doubled.
* * *
The high school I attended was the same one Sang-joon went to. It was a private school overflowing with children from so-called well-off families.
The ‘sacred bones’ were the children of chaebol families, and the ‘true bones’ were the children of high-ranking officials—for example, seasoned National Assembly members with five or more terms, party leaders, or those from families of prime ministers or ministers.
Following them were the ‘head ranks’—children from families with a plethora of prosecutors, judges, or lawyers, and the offspring of media outlet presidents.
The lowest tier comprised the children of salary earners who weren’t owners—executives in major positions, including presidents of subsidiaries.
However, the difference in treatment from the teachers aside, the sense of disparity among the students wasn’t significant. As was typical at an age when they were starting to notice the opposite sex, looks were the most important factor.
The reason Sang-joon, who wasn’t particularly special, was so popular with the female students was thanks to inheriting the genes of his beautiful actress mother.
I, as a new student, was also the subject of considerable attention.
Having inherited the same genes, my handsomeness was on par with Sang-joon’s, but my attitude towards female students and my grades were vastly different.
Unlike my brother, who treated every approaching girl kindly, I showed no interest whatsoever. I was busy with my studies and work. I didn’t have a single second to waste on kids’ love games.
“Are you really going to liquidate it all?”
“Remember Dell Computer last year? After we sold it off at $49, what happened to the stock price? It plummeted to the $10 range and is only now gradually recovering after a year. SoftBank will be even worse. Right now, they’re just a distributor.”
“But SoftBank is continuously expanding its business areas. What about the potential value in that?”
Oh Se-hyun no longer tries to persuade me. He always exchanges opinions and follows my lead. It’s not just because of our relationship as majority shareholder and professional manager. He respects my investment instincts, which haven’t failed even once.
“In Japan, there’s a stronger negative perception of M&A. The more SoftBank pursues mergers and acquisitions, the lower its stock price will fall. The results of those M&As will take a long time to materialize. President Masayoshi Son looks far ahead. But investors are impatient. They only see what’s in front of them.”
In July 1994, SoftBank successfully went public.
The initial public offering price was ¥18,900 per share, the highest possible.
After going public, SoftBank instantly gained a massive fortune of ¥200 billion. President Masayoshi Son immediately declared aggressive M&A plans, and his sights turned to the entire world.
My investment of $230 million had grown to $850 million, earning me $620 million in a single year.
Before SoftBank’s bubble burst, I pulled out and halted aggressive investments.
I dedicated my three years of high school to studying. My only hobbies were occasionally investing in Hollywood movies, and investing in James Cameron’s
Hollywood’s prevailing wisdom was that blockbusters set in water always failed, and Kevin Costner’s blockbuster
Thanks to this, the film’s production company, 20th Century Fox, welcomed Miracle’s substantial investment, and the investment contract was finalized without a hitch.
* * *
Fortunately, Sang-joon graduated high school without any major incidents. Naturally, his grades weren’t good enough to get into a decent university, so he hastily left to study abroad in the US.
What leaks inside will leak outside, but since Sang-joon received little attention or expectation from the family, it was perhaps a good thing for him.
It wouldn’t be difficult for him to secretly enroll in a field he desired—probably music.
Now, all eyes were on me, the only remaining high school senior among Soonyang Group’s third generation.
Would I be the first to get accepted into Seoul National University?
Some watched my grades with curiosity, others with suspicion, and only my parents and grandfather watched with anticipation.
My senior year of high school, which began with Seo Taiji and Boys’ disbandment announcement, ended on November 13, 1996.
A day when all parents in Korea, regardless of their wealth, prayed fervently—the day of the university entrance exam.
My mother stood in front of the school, the exam venue, praying without stopping until the exam was over, and my grandfather kept his secretary busy all day checking the time the exam would end.
Confidently receiving the exam paper, I was thrown into a mental breakdown from the very first question. I expected to breeze through the questions, but I was stuck right from the start.
The only comfort was the groans echoing throughout the classroom.
It would be a relief if it was due to the overall difficulty, but I couldn’t be sure.
I calmed myself and focused on the exam.
How many one-on-one tutors had I hired with the hundreds of times more money than ordinary families spent on sending their kids to academies?
I needed to get impressive scores to match the enormous investment and save face… Damn it, this isn’t going to be easy.
As I left the testing center, my mother hugged me with a worried expression.
“Was it difficult? It’s okay. It’s all over now.”
“Do-jun, relax your expression. It was on the news. They said this year’s entrance exam was the hardest ever. Don’t worry too much.”
My father’s breaking news eased my mind a little.
Let’s not expect too much.
I just hoped I’d done as well as I’d boasted. I prayed for scores high enough to get into Seoul National University’s College of Law.
* * *
“Our youngest got 39th in the entire country! Huh? No, not the whole school, the entire nation! If you exclude science majors and only look at humanities, he’s 10th nationwide. The entrance exam is out of 400 points, right? He got 367, 367 points. Only 6 points behind the top scorer in the country. That’s just a difference in condition, wouldn’t you say? Hahaha.”
Chairman Jin received a memo with the results the day before the scores were officially released.
His first instinct was to call his grandson after confirming the score, but there was a more important person he needed to inform first.
The chairman of Daehyun Group.
“You only deserve to be called someone who studies if you get into Seoul National University’s College of Law. And would Seoul National University even be good enough for my grandson? He’ll probably choose between Harvard and Oxford. Oh, right, scholarships are for families who can’t afford it, we’ll have to pay the full tuition… It’s quite a predicament. “,
Chairman Jin felt a sense of relief wash over him as he ended the call. He felt a victory comparable to, if not greater than, when he surpassed Daehyun Group in sales in the heavy industry sector.
“Now, let’s see… who else should I rub salt in the wound of?”
He scrolled through the numbers saved on his phone and made about ten calls before suddenly remembering something and summoning the executive in charge of the group’s public relations department.
“Take a look at this.”
The executive received the memo and bowed deeply, shouting,
“Congratulations, Chairman.”
“Enough with the congratulations. Leak this discreetly. Make sure the reporters take some pictures of our Do-jun tomorrow.”
“Pardon?”
“Why is this fellow so clueless? What are you so surprised about? What do people think? They whisper that the scions of big group chairmen go to prestigious private universities with money and connections. Can you buy this kind of entrance exam score with money? Can you get it with connections? Make sure those kinds of rumors stop, handle it well.”
“Ah, yes. I understand, Chairman.”
After the public relations executive left, Chairman Jin couldn’t wipe the smile off his face for a long time, before a sudden pang of regret hit him.
The thought that he wouldn’t see Do-jun for at least five years if he sent him abroad to study saddened him.
A grandson he wouldn’t trade for the world… He wanted to keep him by his side. Forever.