The Conglomerate Family Became A Villain [EN]: Chapter 33

Villain of a Conglomerate Family – The Kneeling Giant 02 –

***

“The current phenomenon is temporary.”

Robert from Activision was explaining to Sarah, sweating profusely.

He was anxious about whether third parties would be affected by the situation that started with Atari’s declining profits.

“You mean it’s a temporary increase in inventory?”

“Yes, that’s right. It will get better once the inventory is depleted during this Christmas holiday season.”

Sarah had made a lot of money betting on the bubble, but she hid her emotions as she took his call.

“I understand. Then I’ll keep that in mind and prepare for Zero Space 3.”

“Thank you. Please give my best to Charlie as well.”

“I’ll take care of it. Don’t worry.”

Sarah hung up and went to find Jung Hyun-woo.

Ding-dong. Ding-dong.

A moment later, the door opened.

“Huh?”

Sarah’s eyebrows rose because the person who opened the door was Jung Hyun-woo, not Choi Kyung-min.

“Where’s Tom?”

“He went to the shopping center.”

“Oh, to buy groceries?”

“No. I told him to buy some souvenirs and things to take back to Korea.”

Jung Hyun-woo showed his generosity by handing Choi Kyung-min a thousand dollars.

“It seems like he’s really going back.”

“Are you sad?”

“He’s someone I saw almost every day.”

Sarah and Jung Hyun-woo went up to the second floor.

“How are the stock prices today?”

“The same as always.”

After Warner Group’s announcement, the stock prices of the game industry continued to plummet.

“How about our profits?”

“400%.”

This meant that the stock prices of Warner Group and other game industry companies had fallen by about 40%.

“Should we start buying back soon?”

“Not yet.”

Sarah didn’t think the bubble would burst to this extent.

‘At the very least, it will drop by 70%.’

If the stock price dropped by 70%, Victoria’s profit would be close to 700%.

The total amount Sarah shorted was $5 million.

At a 700% profit, Victoria’s profit would reach $35 million.

“Oh, Robert called.”

Jung Hyun-woo asked without stopping.

“Was it a call saying that this matter will be resolved well?”

“He said the inventory will be resolved during the Christmas holiday season.”

“What do you think, Sarah?”

“There’s too much inventory piled up for that to happen. And Commodore is too aggressive.”

One of the causes of the Atari shock was the aggressive pricing strategy of Commodore, a home PC manufacturer.

“Since computers are only $100 more expensive than game consoles, I would buy a Commodore if I were them.”

“Commodore’s stock price has also fallen considerably due to this.”

Sarah couldn’t short Commodore.

Squeak.

As they opened the door and entered the room, they could feel the electromagnetic waves emitted by the computers.

“How’s the development of Zero Space 3 going?”

“It’s going smoothly.”

“Really?”

Developing a game in a situation where the bubble has burst.

If done wrong, they could lose their motivation. But Jung Hyun-woo was developing the game even faster than before.

“It might be the last game, after all.”

“A beautiful ending, huh.”

Jung Hyun-woo nodded and sat down.

“Are you looking into the company building?”

He was thinking of buying a company building with some of the profits from the bubble burst.

“I’m looking around MIT [Massachusetts Institute of Technology].”

“It seems like there’s no suitable building yet.”

Sarah nodded.

“Good buildings aren’t listed in real estate offices.”

“But there’s no need to pay a premium.”

Jung Hyun-woo had no intention of buying a building by force.

“How’s your admission preparation going?”

“Is there anything to prepare?”

He just has to go.

That’s what he seemed to be thinking.

“Tom’s leaving.”

From now on, Jung Hyun-woo had to take care of everything himself.

“It’s okay.”

Jung Hyun-woo had 4 years of military service experience.

‘I’m used to group life.’

Sarah took out a document and handed it to him.

“It’s a document sent by the securities company.”

Jung Hyun-woo took the document and scanned it.

“It’s a document about short selling?”

“Charlie needs to know exactly how much he shorted.”

The document stated that Victoria Corporation had shorted a total of $5 million in 6 companies.

“Warner is more incompetent than I thought?”

“Warner doesn’t just have the game industry.”

“It would have been better if Atari had separated, but it’s a shame.”

The series of events called the Atari shock started with the Warner Group’s stock price crash.

However, since Warner Group owned various media outlets, the impact was less than other game companies.

“Charlie.”

“Yes?”

“Are you still going to invest in Activision?”

Jung Hyun-woo had previously expressed his willingness to continue investing in Activision.

“For now.”

“For now?”

“If the situation worsens significantly, I’ll have no choice but to change my mind.”

He was saying that he would accept some losses.

Sarah tilted her head to the side.

“Is there really a need to accept losses?”

“I think of it as keeping my loyalty to Activision.”

“Loyalty in a company, no, in business?”

Americans often say that business is business.

“Sarah, you’re against investing in Activision.”

“Yeah, I’m against it.”

Sarah didn’t want to invest in Activision in a situation where the bubble was rapidly collapsing.

“I want to buy people with this investment.”

“Buy people?”

“Robert or other Activision people.”

“How can you buy people with that investment?”

Jung Hyun-woo put his hands together.

“For example, if Activision goes bankrupt…”

Sarah’s eyebrows rose.

“Will it go bankrupt?”

“It could go bankrupt if the situation gets serious.”

Jung Hyun-woo was serious.

“If you’re even thinking about Activision going bankrupt, shouldn’t you not invest even more?”

“No. If I show my loyalty to Activision, it will be a great help when recruiting people like Robert.”

“Charlie, isn’t offering them a huge salary enough to recruit people?”

Sarah thought that if he really wanted to recruit Robert, he could offer him a huge salary.

But Jung Hyun-woo thought differently.

“We need to offer them trust and vision. This is not contained in the number called salary.”

Not contained in the number called salary.

Sarah sighed deeply.

“Hoo… I really can’t beat Charlie.”

Jung Hyun-woo said in a soft voice.

“Sarah, the place we have to go is further away.”

The bubble burst investment is not the end. That’s what he was saying.

“Yeah, it’s not the end here.”

She was already thinking about a personal stock checking program.

“What we talked about before.”

“What was it?”

“Stock checking software.”

“Oh, that?”

“Can’t Charlie make it alone?”

Jung Hyun-woo nodded.

“This is a bit difficult. I need help from the securities company side too.”

“Should I talk to Peter?”

Peter Lynch.

If he helped, they could build a more advanced system. But if he intervened, they would have to share some of the profits with him.

‘What should I do?’

He hesitated for a moment and asked Sarah back.

“What do you think, Sarah?”

Sarah put her hands together.

“I think it’s good to work with him.”

“Even while sharing the profits?”

“Either way, we’ll have to share the profits no matter who we work with. If so, Peter is better.”

Jung Hyun-woo asked.

“Is it because you have a connection with him?”

“No.”

Jung Hyun-woo tilted his head to the right.

“Then?”

“Peter is a passionate person who checks all the stocks on the stock exchange every day. If we create a system that allows us to check the stock market from home, he will passionately help us.”

Peter Lynch, to put it badly, was a workaholic.

“You mean it’s also a system for Peter himself.”

“That’s right.”

Jung Hyun-woo thought Sarah was right.

‘Peter Lynch will know the value of this advanced system.’

However, what worried him was that Peter Lynch was not favorable to IT companies.

‘There’s no need to worry. Investing in IT companies and agreeing to build a system are different stories.’

He nodded and said.

“I’ll leave Peter to Sarah.”

Sarah smiled and accepted his words.

“I’ll definitely persuade him.”

The two were calmly moving towards the future.

***

New York, Wall Street.

Sarah met Peter Lynch not in a leisurely hotel lobby, but in his office.

The Magellan Fund was having its busiest time of the year, so the noise level was tremendous.

“Call number 1!”

“Damn it! The phone is dead.”

“Switch to number 3.”

“Sean! Sell 10,000 shares of Exxon Mobil!”

“What?”

“Sell 10,000 shares!”

Peter Lynch’s office was at least better because it had partitions installed, even if they were crude.

“Sarah, it seems like it’s an important story if you came to visit me directly.”

Sarah nodded and said.

“I need Peter’s cooperation. Depending on the situation, we may even partner.”

Peter Lynch tilted his head.

“Partner?”

“There’s something we want to do here.”

“Then I’m relieved.”

Peter Lynch thought that she and Jung Hyun-woo had suffered a great loss during this game bubble burst. But it didn’t seem to be the case.

Sarah calmly explained the stock market checking system that Jung Hyun-woo wanted to do.

Peter Lynch listened to her story until the end and shrugged his shoulders.

“To be honest, it’s not appealing.”

Sarah thought it was unexpected.

‘Peter would reject this system.’

She raised her eyebrows and asked.

“What’s the reason?”

Peter Lynch turned his right hand over with the palm facing up and said.

“I think it’s enough to work only at the company.”

He didn’t want to see stock codes even at home. This was his thought.

‘There is only rest at home.’

Sarah argued like an investigator.

“Peter, but not everyone is like Peter.”

She clearly thought there was a lot of demand.

‘Maybe not in New York? It’s not even easy to access the stock exchange in other cities.’

Peter did not deny her words.

“I agree.”

He nodded and took out a memo pad. Then, he wrote a person’s name with a handmade fountain pen ordered from 15th Street in New York.

“Sarah, take this and go to JP [J.P.] Morgan.”

JP Morgan.

A legend of Wall Street and one of the world’s top 3 banks.

Peter Lynch knew one person who might be interested in the idea she presented.

“Eric Bogle? Is it this person?”

Peter Lynch nodded.

“He’s Chairman Bogle’s son.”

“Who is Chairman Bogle?”

It was clearly not the chairman of JP Morgan.

“John Bogle is the chairman of Vanguard Group.”

Vanguard Group.

Sarah had vaguely heard the name before.

“Oh, that index-tracking index fund?”

“You know it well.”

Sarah’s major was finance.

She knew that Vanguard Group’s S&P 500 index-tracking index fund was born in 1975.

Index funds did not initially gain much popularity, but their popularity gradually increased as their returns surpassed those of individual funds. Many of the professors at Boston University who were teaching her were also paying attention to index funds, which can be said to be the beginning of index tracking.

“He’s his son, but he’s at JP Morgan instead of Vanguard Fund?”

“It’s not necessary for a son to enter his father’s company. Like you, Sarah.”

He meant that he might be able to succeed Chairman John Bogle in the future, but for now, they are just working at their respective companies.

Sarah thought there was a bone in his words.

“You mean it’s common for sons to have different opinions from their fathers?”

Peter Lynch nodded at her question.

“They’ll probably get along well.”

Eric Bogle was a person who dreamed of computerizing Wall Street.

Sarah got up from her seat and thanked him.

“Peter, thank you always.”

Peter Lynch adjusted his glasses and said.

“Sarah, let me ask you just one thing.”

“Ask me anything.”

“There’s a rumor in Boston that a woman shorted a large amount of Warner Group, is it Sarah?”

Sarah thought it was the sharpest question he had asked today.

“What if it is? What do you think?”

Peter Lynch sighed deeply.

“Hoo… Sarah, you can win in gambling. But you can’t live your whole life as a gambler.”

You can win once or twice with good luck, but dangerous investments will eventually face great difficulties.

This was the same as his investment philosophy.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Sarah politely bowed and left his office.

Peter Lynch shook his head as he looked at her back.

“She won’t give up.”

He thought of her as a gambler, but the real gambler was Jung Hyun-woo, not her.

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