The Conglomerate Family Became A Villain [EN]: Chapter 114

114. Genius and Sage (5)

It was easy to tell Chairman Jung Woo-sun about the results of the U.S. presidential election.

So, what was the difficult part?

As Jung Min-young frowned, Jung Hyun-woo spoke.

“Now, I’ll tell you about the difficult part.”

Jung Min-young simply listened.

“Please arrange a meeting with Chief Secretary Heo.”

Chief Secretary Heo.

Jung Min-young knew that the Chief Secretary Heo he was referring to was his father-in-law, Heo Moon-young, the Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs [a high-ranking government official in charge of personnel and investigations].

“Hyun-woo, you’re going too far.”

Heo Moon-young, the Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs, was a prominent figure in politics whom even he found difficult to meet easily.

‘My father-in-law isn’t someone I can meet whenever I want.’

Jung Hyun-woo’s demands didn’t stop there.

“The venue should be around Hawaii.”

He was telling Chief Secretary Heo Moon-young to come to Hawaii, which was still American soil, for the meeting.

Jung Min-young let out a long sigh.

“Haa…”

He thought he couldn’t accept this request.

“This meeting won’t be bad for Chief Secretary Heo either.”

Jung Min-young clenched his fist, suppressing his emotions. He took another deep breath and began to speak.

“Hyun-woo, the world isn’t that easy.”

He thought Jung Hyun-woo lived too easily and didn’t know much about hardship.

On the other hand, Jung Hyun-woo thought differently.

“Do you perhaps have a bad relationship with Chief Secretary Heo?”

If the couple’s relationship wasn’t good, the relationship with the father-in-law couldn’t be good either.

Jung Min-young lowered his voice and said.

“Hyun-woo, being the grandson of a *chaebol* [a large South Korean business conglomerate] chairman isn’t that big of a deal in South Korea.”

In 1984, the power of the Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs was such that they could summon the chairman of a *chaebol* to the Blue House [the executive office and official residence of the South Korean president].

But for that grandson, not even the chairman, to summon the Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs to America was hard to accept.

“I’m not asking to meet as the grandson of a *chaebol* chairman.”

“If not as the grandson of a *chaebol* chairman, then?”

“I’m trying to meet as Charlie Jung.”

Jung Min-young sighed again.

“Hoo…”

He knew that Jung Hyun-woo was doing business in the United States. But that wasn’t enough to meet a figure like the Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs.

‘I have no choice but to soothe him.’

Jung Min-young was about to say it was absolutely impossible. Just then, Jung Hyun-woo raised his voice.

“Do you have the business card I gave you, Uncle?”

“Business card?”

“You didn’t lose it, did you?”

Jung Min-young opened the bottom drawer of his desk.

Slide.

He took out the business card Jung Hyun-woo had given him from inside.

“I didn’t lose it.”

“That’s a relief then.”

“A relief?”

“If you give that business card to Chief Secretary Heo, you’ll be able to make an appointment. I don’t think it’s that difficult.”

Jung Min-young frowned as he looked at the business card Jung Hyun-woo had given him.

‘Victoria Corporation?’

It was a name he seemed to have seen somewhere.

‘Is there something about this company?’

He unfolded his narrowed brow and said.

“Okay. But I can’t guarantee whether the meeting will be arranged or not.”

“If he refuses to meet even after receiving that business card, there’s nothing I can do.”

Jung Min-young narrowed his eyes.

‘Is there something on this business card?’

The business card Jung Hyun-woo gave him only had ‘Charlie Jung, CEO of Victoria Corporation’ written on it in English.

“Is that all you need?”

“There’s one more thing.”

“One more thing?”

“This time, it’s neither difficult nor easy, just right in the middle.”

Jung Min-young nodded at the word ‘middle’.

“I don’t know how much ‘middle’ is.”

“I’d like you to come to New York once before the holidays.”

“Not Boston, but New York?”

“Wouldn’t it be too specific if you came to Boston on a business trip?”

He was telling him to arrange a business trip to New York for a suitable reason.

“Okay.”

Jung Min-young was in a position to do that much.

‘I need to go to New York and find out what he’s up to.’

Jung Hyun-woo said in a bright voice when he agreed to the third request.

“That’s all I need. Is there anything you need me to do, Uncle?”

What Jung Min-young wanted from Jung Hyun-woo was just to say good things to Chairman Jung Woo-sun.

‘But since he’s in America, there’s nothing he can do.’

He shook his head and answered briefly.

“No.”

“Okay. Then I’ll wait for your call.”

“Where should I contact you?”

“You can contact me at the place written on that business card.”

Jung Min-young nodded.

“Okay. I’ll contact you there.”

He hung up the phone and examined the business card with both hands.

‘There’s nothing special about it.’

If there was anything special, it would be the company called Victoria Corporation.

Beep.

When he pressed the intercom, his secretary’s voice was heard.

“Did you call?”

“Come inside.”

Jung Min-young called his secretary and showed her the business card, saying.

“Investigate the company written here.”

In a time without the internet.

Investigating an American company wasn’t an easy task.

Still, Jung Min-young’s secretary was resourceful.

“Then I’ll contact the international department of K Daily.”

“Do that.”

Jung Min-young sent his secretary out and spun the business card around.

‘Victoria Corporation, huh.’

He thought his schedule might change depending on the company’s identity.

* * *

“President Reagan will be re-elected in the U.S. presidential election?”

“According to high-level information from Wall Street and the media, it seems certain.”

“Well, isn’t that something that doesn’t have much to do with us?”

Chairman Jung Woo-sun’s reaction was lukewarm.

“Father, what the current government fears most is the United States.”

“Is there anyone in Korea who doesn’t know that?”

“Just in case, I think we need to strengthen our relationship with the U.S. government even more.”

Chairman Jung Woo-sun hardened his face.

“Are we Samjung or Daehyun?”

He was saying that unless they were super-giant companies like Samjung Group or Daehyun Group, the relationship with the United States wasn’t that important.

“I’m not saying we should get as close to the United States as they are. I’m saying we need to prepare at least one dagger.”

“Dagger?”

“With more than a month left until the election, it wouldn’t be bad to bet on the Republican Party.”

Chairman Jung Woo-sun let out a long sigh.

“If you think about it differently, there’s only a month left until the election. It’s not like the election is just starting, so betting on them now would be nothing more than a formality.”

“Father, the time after the oath is taken and the time with a month left are not comparable.”

Even if it’s late, we need to bet on them before the election results come out.

That was true.

Chairman Jung Woo-sun groaned at his son’s advice.

“Hmm.”

Daewoon Group’s financial situation had improved compared to the beginning of the year. But spending a lot of money was a bit much.

‘Spending money in the United States?’

Making connections with one or two Republican congressmen could be helpful in the future.

‘But if it costs too much money, it could be a loss-making investment.’

After pondering for a while, he raised his voice.

“So, how much do you think we should push?”

“I think $1 million would be enough.”

“$1 million?”

“We need to push that much for the Republican Party to move.”

Chairman Jung Woo-sun put his hands together.

“Where are we going to move that money from?”

“It can be moved directly from Daewoon Construction’s U.S. branch.”

It was political support, not a slush fund or bribery. Jung Min-young decided to follow the official route.

“Hmm. It doesn’t seem like we can just leave it to the U.S. branch, so someone has to go.”

The first person Chairman Jung Woo-sun thought of was Chief Hong Won-ik. But he hadn’t been back from New York for very long.

‘I can’t send him out again…’

Jung Min-young thought this was his chance and raised his right hand.

“Father, I’ll go myself.”

“Since you brought it up, you’ll take responsibility to the end?”

“Wouldn’t that be right?”

Chairman Jung Woo-sun thought he should give his youngest son a chance too.

“Okay. Then you take care of this matter.”

Jung Min-young bowed deeply.

“Thank you.”

He came out and thought.

‘Killing two birds with one stone.’

He showed his ability to handle the easy and moderately easy tasks that Jung Hyun-woo had mentioned in this meeting.

When he reached the front of the office, the secretary stood up from her seat.

“I received a call from K Daily.”

Jung Min-young tilted his head.

“You’ve already received a call?”

It was an excessively quick turnaround.

‘Was there a person in charge who happened to know a lot about Victoria Corporation?’

The secretary held out a memo she had written.

“It would be faster to look at the memo than for me to tell you.”

Jung Min-young took the memo the secretary had written.

“Hmm?”

The memo she handed him read:

– Victoria Corporation, an IT company that has recently emerged in Wall Street. Headquartered in Boston, with an estimated market capitalization of over $5 billion.

Jung Min-young thought something was wrong.

“Call K Daily again. It seems like they mistook it for a company with a similar name.”

The secretary shook her head at his question.

“It shouldn’t be wrong.”

“How can Secretary Kim be so sure?”

“When you gave me the business card, I checked the CEO’s name.”

Jung Min-young knew that the CEO of Victoria Corporation was Jung Hyun-woo.

“Charlie Jung, you mean?”

The secretary nodded and replied.

“The name of the CEO of Victoria Corporation that the international department of K Daily confirmed was indeed Charlie Jung.”

In an instant, Jung Min-young’s eyes widened like a full moon.

“Really?”

“If you doubt it, I’ll call H Economic Daily instead of K Daily and check again.”

Jung Min-young nodded.

“Do that.”

Instead of immediately believing the facts she had investigated, he wanted to investigate one more time.

‘There’s no way Hyun-woo is the CEO of a $5 billion conglomerate.’

Jung Hyun-woo was still a Korean teenager who wasn’t even twenty years old yet.

‘Something must be wrong.’

Jung Min-young opened the door and went inside.

* * *

Henri Arnault bowed deeply at Jung Hyun-woo’s visit.

“Welcome, VIP.”

Jung Hyun-woo raised his right hand with the palm showing.

“Today, I’m visiting as a representative of a partner company, not a customer.”

Henri Arnault was smooth.

“Either way, I think you are an important guest of JP Morgan.”

“I heard you had a conversation with Ms. Hilton the other day.”

“She was talking about an IPO [Initial Public Offering, when a company offers shares to the public for the first time].”

“What do you think, Mr. Arnault?”

Henri Arnault turned his gaze to the world map hanging on the wall.

“Company valuation is a time-consuming task.”

“I heard you would notify us of the results within three months?”

“We are still in the process of collecting data.”

“You’re saying the company valuation hasn’t even started yet.”

Henri Arnault nodded.

“If you’re asking about the process, I have no choice but to say yes.”

Jung Hyun-woo felt like Ari Arnault was wearing a mask.

‘A mask of laughter.’

He didn’t even think about taking off the other person’s mask.

‘There’s no need to fight.’

It was when he let out a short sigh.

The secretary came in and put down the tea.

“Here’s your coffee.”

Jung Hyun-woo took the coffee and smiled.

“It smells good.”

“Thank you.”

What was placed in front of Henri Arnault was not coffee but black tea.

‘Maybe it’s because he’s French, but his taste is unique.’

Henri Arnault did not lift the cup containing the black tea and raised both hands, saying.

“I am personally impressed by Mr. Jung’s investment style.”

“You flatter me.”

“I’m not flattering you. It’s a return that overwhelms our JP Morgan fund managers.”

The profit Jung Hyun-woo had made from the rise in Japanese companies’ stock prices amounted to $180 million. And this profit was increasing in real time.

“I just did some averaging down like retail investors do.”

He was saying that he just bought cheap when the Japanese stock market fell, and he didn’t make any special investments.

“Wasn’t the amount of money you moved quite large to call it averaging down?”

Henri Arnault considered the size of the amount Jung Hyun-woo moved and even recommended him to buy in installments.

“Aren’t there many bigger players than me? Like Magellan Fund or Vanguard Fund.”

The Magellan Fund was a fund led by Peter Lynch, and the Vanguard Fund was the world’s No. 1 fund led by John Bogle.

“They don’t move that much money in a short period of time either.”

Thanks to his Japanese investment profits, Jung Hyun-woo’s account balance was close to $700 million.

“Is that so?”

“Actually, we also made some profit thanks to Mr. Jung.”

“JP Morgan, you mean?”

“When hundreds of millions of dollars are moved, the commission alone is in the millions.”

JP Morgan was able to generate millions of dollars in commission revenue thanks to Jung Hyun-woo’s Japanese investment.

“I didn’t come here to talk about that today.”

“Did you come to inquire about the IPO schedule?”

Jung Hyun-woo put down his glass and shook his head.

“I came to inquire about changes in conditions, not the IPO schedule.”

“Changes in conditions?”

Jung Hyun-woo looked at Henri Arnault and asked again.

“If someone acquires Victoria Corporation’s stock again, what will Victoria Corporation’s value be?”

Henri Arnault smiled and replied.

“Victoria Corporation’s value. It depends on how much money a company spends.”

He didn’t think there would be a company that would make the same choice as Neil Hamilton.

‘Bank of America wouldn’t make that choice either.’

Jung Hyun-woo looked at him and raised his voice.

“What happens if Bank of America buys the same stake under the same conditions as JP Morgan?”

At his question, Henri Arnault paused.

“Bank of America is acquiring Victoria Corporation’s stock under the same conditions as JP Morgan?”

“It’s not a definite story yet. However, if that deal goes through, how will the company’s value change?”

Henri Arnault groaned.

“Hmm, if Bank of America acquires a 10% stake for $1 billion…”

He couldn’t answer right away.

Jung Hyun-woo didn’t push him. Instead, he crossed his arms and waited for his answer.

A moment later.

Henri Arnault let out a long sigh and answered.

“If Bank of America also acquires a stake in Victoria Corporation for $1 billion, Victoria Corporation’s value will easily exceed $10 billion.”

It would exceed $10 billion.

Jung Hyun-woo knew that much too.

“Will it be $12 billion or $13 billion?”

Henri Arnault slowly shook his head.

“It would be at least $15 billion.”

If he sold his stake to Bank of America, Jung Hyun-woo’s stake would be reduced to 55%.

But his wealth was not decreasing.

‘55% of $15 billion is about $8.2 billion.’

If you add the balance in the JP Morgan account, his assets would be close to $9 billion.