The Conglomerate Family Became A Villain [EN]: Chapter 62

The Thirteenth Christmas

– The Third Christmas –

November 8, 1983.

Jung Hyun-woo announced to the employees of Victoria Corporation that they had successfully stabilized JP Service.

As of November 2nd, the number of JP Service subscribers reached 920,000, with over 210,000 prospective subscribers applying through JP Morgan and IBM. Furthermore, the number of JP Service subscribers was expected to increase to 1.13 million by January 1984.

This was more than five times the initially expected number of 200,000 subscribers.

“Our profits have also clearly improved in October.”

Sarah handed Jung Hyun-woo a glowing monthly report.

“It’s not your job to read all of this in detail.”

She meant for him to summarize it for her.

“Charlie, you have more free time these days, don’t you?”

Sarah hoped that Jung Hyun-woo would sometimes carefully read the reports she wrote. He stopped what he was doing and raised his voice slightly.

“Do you really think I have more free time?”

“At least you’re not working overtime.”

They were only able to leave work on time; they didn’t have enough free time to go on vacation or travel.

“Okay. I’ll read it when I get home.”

Since taking a leave of absence from school, he had moved out of the dormitory and was living with Sarah.

“Charlie, you have to read it.”

“Okay. But please summarize the contents for me.”

He was asking her to tell him the summary right there.

Sarah sighed briefly and then complied with his request.

“Alright. I’ll summarize it for you. Last month, Victoria Corporation’s monthly sales were $13.43 million. Net profit was $7.2 million, and 99% of both net profit and sales came from JP Service.”

The remaining 1% was game royalties, including the Zero Space series.

‘The game side is completely dead.’

If he felt this way, there was no option for small and medium-sized game companies but bankruptcy.

‘Hmm, is the game market recovering later than I expected?’

He wondered if he had been too early in securing game IP [Intellectual Property].

“Still, net profit increased a lot in October.”

“That’s right.”

Sarah expected that all the funds invested in JP Service would be recovered by January of next year.

“But we can’t let our guard down. Our debt has decreased a bit, but it’s still close to $10 million.”

Victoria Corporation’s debt was a loan from JP Morgan, so there was really no need to worry. However, Sarah was still burdened by the $10 million debt.

“What’s next?”

“IBM’s Black Friday results are out.”

Victoria Corporation had partnered with IBM to release a 16-bit computer that included JP Service as a package.

Jung Hyun-woo was secretly expecting a lot from the IBM package.

‘IBM is a giant of the era.’

He asked with anticipation.

“Did they sell out?”

“No.”

A disappointing answer.

Jung Hyun-woo sighed briefly.

“Haa, it’s not easy to sell out completely.”

Just because they partnered with IBM didn’t mean everyone would become like Bill Gates and Microsoft.

“But it’s not something to sigh about.”

Jung Hyun-woo furrowed his brow and asked.

“They didn’t sell out, but it doesn’t seem like there’s a lot of inventory piling up?”

“They sold 91,000 units.”

91,000 units.

That meant 90% of the initial quantity had been sold.

“Ah, that’s not bad then.”

If 90% of the initial quantity was sold, they could exhaust the initial quantity by December at the latest and enter the second production phase.

“The collaboration with IBM is a success for now.”

If she hadn’t turned back in the parking lot, or if Robert hadn’t coordinated the two companies well, the collaboration with IBM would have disappeared like a mirage in an unnamed cafe in Boston.

‘Millions of dollars would have flown away like that.’

He thought he had come this far because he had met Sarah and Robert.

‘Is this what people on YouTube commonly refer to as meeting benefactors? Come to think of it, now might be the time to preemptively invest in YouTube.’

Of course, he had no intention of creating YouTube himself.

‘But I might be able to invest in it one step ahead of Google.’

The best thing would be to become one of Google’s founding members. While he was immersed in Google and YouTube, Sarah was moving on to the next topic.

“The atmosphere for Japanese investment is good.”

Jung Hyun-woo returned to reality at her words.

“Was the Magellan Fund’s return 30% until September?”

Victoria’s total investment was $20 million.

A 30% return meant a net profit of $6 million.

“It’s gone up even more last month.”

“Up to 35%?”

“No.”

“Don’t tell me it’s dropped?”

“It’s gone up to 41%.”

Considering the $20 million investment, they had already made a profit of $8.2 million.

“Peter said that Charlie seems to have an amazing eye for money.”

Thanks to Jung Hyun-woo’s Japanese investment, the overall return of the Magellan Fund was also soaring.

“I was just lucky this time. And we’re also benefiting a lot from Peter.”

Even if they knew the future of Japanese companies, it wasn’t easy to invest directly in Japanese companies.

‘It’s not like the 21st century where you can freely trade foreign stocks.’

Without Peter Lynch and the Magellan Fund, the two would have had to visit JP Morgan or a famous securities company, giving various explanations and asking them to create a Japanese real estate investment fund.

“Victoria’s net assets, excluding debt and investment, are $44 million.”

Before starting JP Service, Victoria’s net assets were around $45 million, so they had essentially achieved negative growth in net assets over the past year. Of course, if the network system and AS [After Service] center invested in JP Service were classified as assets, they could avoid negative growth. But even so, it was true that there was no growth in net assets over the past year.

“It will get better next year, right?”

“Of course.”

Jung Hyun-woo asked casually.

“How much are you expecting, Sarah?”

“At this rate… wouldn’t about $80 million be possible?”

A 100% growth in net assets.

This was a figure that was hard to expect in general manufacturing. But Victoria Corporation was an IT company. She thought they could achieve 100% growth.

“Sarah, you’re surprisingly pessimistic?”

Pessimistic.

Sarah had no choice but to tilt her head.

“100% growth is pessimistic?”

“Yes, wouldn’t 200% be easy?”

A 200% growth.

Since the current assets were $44 million, achieving 200% would require the assets to increase to $132 million.

‘Our company’s assets will grow to $100 million?’

She thought it was impossible.

“Charlie, do you think the current momentum will continue next year?”

If they calculated next year’s sales based on October’s sales, Victoria Corporation’s net assets could exceed $100 million as Jung Hyun-woo expected.

However, she judged that it would be difficult for the current good performance to continue.

“Is there any reason why it wouldn’t?”

Sarah raised her right index finger.

“Charlie, when a special service appears, many people sign up out of curiosity. But that curiosity doesn’t last long. I think the same is true for the people who have signed up for JP Service now. I think there’s a high possibility that they’ll cancel JP Service for economic reasons or because they don’t use it often.”

Her conservative goal setting took into account the cancellations of those who had impulsively signed up for JP Service.

Jung Hyun-woo crossed his arms after listening to her explanation.

“Hmm, that could be true.”

“That could be true? Charlie, you don’t seem to completely agree with my opinion?”

Jung Hyun-woo nodded and replied.

“I expect that even if some people cancel, the number of subscribers will increase more than this year.”

“Why?”

“First of all, the reviews of the service are good. And individual investors don’t want to be behind others in terms of information. They think of themselves as excellent investors and gamblers.”

Jung Hyun-woo had experience investing in stocks since he was a college student, so he knew well what kind of mindset they put money into their accounts with.

‘They’re all Warren Buffett in their minds.’

Of course, reality didn’t live up to his expectations. He only made a profit from stocks for a year or two, and his stock account was in the red for as long as eight years.

“Failed investors think that their judgment was lacking because they lacked information, not because their judgment was insufficient. There’s only one option for people who think that way.”

“Only one?”

“They’ll sign up for JP Service to secure the same information as others.”

Sarah groaned softly after hearing Jung Hyun-woo’s answer.

“Hmm, the number of subscribers won’t decrease and will continue to increase.”

If the number of subscribers increased further to 1.5 million, Victoria Corporation would have annual sales of $270 million.

‘Even if we value the company at only twice the sales, it exceeds $500 million.’

A market capitalization of $500 million.

At this level, it was either a company that everyone in the United States knew by name or a regional base company that influenced the economy of a state.

“I think it will increase to at least 2 million.”

Sarah sighed deeply rather than being surprised by Jung Hyun-woo’s words.

“Haa… will that happen?”

She thought it was a dreamlike story.

“Sarah, it could be more than that.”

“Charlie.”

“Yes.”

“You have to look back too.”

“I know. You mean I should leave an escape route in case the company goes wrong, right?”

Sarah nodded.

“Yes, there’s no guarantee that our business will always be successful.”

She thought the collapse of Atari, the absolute powerhouse in the console game industry, was a good example.

‘Even a year ago, no one expected Atari to turn out like this.’

The Atari shock was less than a year ago.

“Don’t worry. We started with empty hands, and even if we fail, we’ll just go back with empty hands.”

Go back with empty hands.

Sarah nodded.

“Well, we don’t have any dependents yet.”

Besides, the two had a solid background that others didn’t have.

‘Yeah, let’s not be too scared.’

Sarah clenched her right fist.

***

The place where Jung Hyun-woo met Professor Mark Dellin, the chairman of the MIT Education Committee, was a quiet park.

‘A meeting in a park instead of an office.’

Did he want to emphasize that it was an informal meeting?

Professor Mark Dellin had chosen this park as the meeting place.

“I take a walk on this path every morning.”

The promenade the two were walking on was Professor Dellin’s walking path.

“It’s quiet and has a great atmosphere.”

“I think about my schedule in my head while walking this path. What time is the lecture, what time is the meeting, and what to eat for lunch.”

It was a story worthy of an MIT professor.

“But there’s always a variable that occurs.”

Jung Hyun-woo followed him and asked.

“What kind of variable?”

“An unexpected variable. Isn’t that the case with all research in the world? A variable other than the controlled factors occurs and ruins the experiment.”

Jung Hyun-woo nodded at his words.

“The same is true for business or corporate projects. There are always unexpected troubles.”

Was it because he wasn’t a businessman?

Professor Dellin’s introduction was long.

It was 20 minutes after the walk began that he brought up the story about Victoria Corporation.

“Charlie, what is the company’s outlook?”

“It’s still bright.”

“Someday, the waves will come. You have to break through those waves to start a real voyage.”

Among MIT graduates, there were quite a few excellent managers. He had guided such people from the podium.

“I will prepare for the waves according to your advice, Professor.”

Professor Dellin turned his head and said.

“We can help your voyage.”

“If MIT sends excellent navigators, it will be of great help to the voyage.”

“Hoo hoo hoo, it seems you have no intention of yielding the captaincy.”

Among the owners of IT companies, there were those who used professional managers after the company grew in size.

“I still want to hold the helm.”

“Charlie, how much help do you want?”

It was an opportunity to talk about specific requirements. However, instead of talking about the requirements, he raised his voice.

“How much can you help?”

Professor Dellin stopped walking at his question.

“Do you want money?”

“I have enough money.”

“Then do you want connections?”

MIT’s connections were widely spread not only in the economic world but also in the political world.

Even their connections reached international organizations and the United Nations such as the UN and the EC (European Community) [now the EU, European Union].

“Connections would be nice to have, but I don’t think I need them yet.”

“Then it must be technology.”

Jung Hyun-woo nodded.

“Yes, there is a new field I am thinking about. I think I can go that way with MIT.”

Professor Dellin tilted his head at the new business that Jung Hyun-woo mentioned.

“JP Service has only been around for half a year, and already a new business?”

Jung Hyun-woo cleared his throat and replied.

“I heard that car companies research the next generation of cars as soon as a new car is released.”

The perspectives of customers, developers, and managers are different.

Professor Dellin nodded slowly at his point.

“That’s right. You are an excellent captain. You deserve to hold the helm.”

He acknowledged that Jung Hyun-woo’s talent was not only in computers.

“If I feel that I am not qualified to hold the helm, I will immediately hand over the helm to the right person.”

Between a boy and a young man.

Jung Hyun-woo was standing somewhere in between.

“Charlie, what kind of technology do you want?”

“I want to do research related to security.”

“If it’s security, is it hacking?”

“It’s about preventing hacking.”

Professor Dellin nodded.

“I see. You’re thinking of making a shield.”

“The country doesn’t allow spears.”

Even if you make an excellent spear, its use is limited.

‘The only places that can use it are the CIA or the cyber warfare unit of the Department of Defense.’

On the other hand, there were many places to use shields.

Financial institutions, IT companies, and large corporations that move huge capital.

Furthermore, related technologies could be applied to personal computers.

“I heard that MIT also makes shields.”

“We are doing research. It may overlap with the research you want to do.”

“What happens if it overlaps?”

Professor Dellin answered immediately without hesitation.

“Then we can just create one more research team.”

“You can create one more.”

Having two research teams on one topic.

It was a story that only MIT could tell.

“Professor Chen’s team’s project will be over soon.”

Win Chen was teaching physics at MIT. To add an explanation, he was also the first person above to recommend Jung Hyun-woo’s admission.

“Then, should we put Professor Chen’s team on the research to create a shield?”

“That friend has recently become increasingly interested in programming languages.”

Early programming language designers were often based on mathematics and physics.

“Is it possible?”

“Chen is a capable friend.”

An MIT physics professor was no different from a genius in the field. But programming, especially security, could be a different story.

‘Is Dellin overconfident in MIT or Professor Chen’s skills?’

Jung Hyun-woo was suspicious, but he had no choice but to trust him now.

‘Well, even if it fails, it’s not a big loss.’

Besides, security research was bound to leave results in any direction. He thought he could set the next project based on those results.

“Okay. Victoria will set up a team to work with Professor Chen’s team.”

Professor Dellin nodded and accepted his words.

“We will prepare the laboratory here.”

Joint research with MIT geniuses.

If this research was successful, Jung Hyun-woo and Victoria Corporation would have one more weapon.

‘This opportunity was also ultimately caught because I entered MIT.’

He thought Sarah’s MIT recommendation was key.

‘If I had entered Boston University, I wouldn’t have had this opportunity.’

Of course, he might have been able to seize opportunities in other ways at Boston University. But considering the expected value, MIT was bound to be more advantageous.