The Conglomerate Family Became A Villain [EN]: Chapter 165

165. The $10 Billion Club (2)

The day before Victoria Corporation’s NASDAQ listing, a rumor of unknown origin began to circulate on Wall Street.

The rumor was that Victoria Corporation was collaborating with Walmart to create a new distribution system.

Initially, few believed it. However, as specific plans and methods began to surface, doubt and belief became intertwined.

“What would happen if Victoria Corporation entered the distribution business?”

“If they succeed in establishing a new system with Walmart, even the current market capitalization would be undervalued.”

JP Morgan had set Victoria Corporation’s market capitalization at $20 billion in conjunction with the IPO.

Wall Street investors speculated that $30 billion, or even more, was within reach.

“How high will it climb?”

“Since it’s the first day, it probably won’t exceed $25 billion, right?”

“It should at least reach that level.”

Jung Hyun-woo’s stake was 45%, meaning if Victoria Corporation’s value reached $25 billion, his assets would easily surpass $15 billion.

With assets of $15 billion, he would rank among the top 10 wealthiest individuals in the United States. In essence, a successful NASDAQ listing for Victoria Corporation would catapult Jung Hyun-woo into the ranks of America’s ten richest people.

Ring. Ring.

The phone rang loudly.

Jung Hyun-woo frowned slightly and reached for the phone.

“This is Charlie.”

“Charlie, congratulations.”

“Peter?”

The caller was Peter Lynch of the Magellan Fund, who had previously invested in Victoria Corporation’s IPO.

“Victoria Corporation is practically guaranteed success, isn’t it?”

Jung Hyun-woo sighed softly.

“Hoo… Even Peter is singing my praises.”

“I’m not praising you; I’m simply reflecting the current sentiment.”

“Aren’t there many instances where the sentiment and the actual results diverge?”

“The sentiment is overwhelmingly positive. And the rumors are quite something.”

Jung Hyun-woo raised his eyebrows, intrigued.

“Rumors, you say?”

“Weren’t you aware of the Walmart rumors?”

Jung Hyun-woo feigned ignorance.

“I haven’t heard a thing.”

“The rumor of a Walmart and Victoria Corporation collaboration is all over Wall Street.”

Upon hearing Peter Lynch’s words, Jung Hyun-woo let out a short, surprised sound.

“Ah…”

“Was it a highly confidential plan?”

“It wasn’t top-secret, but it’s not a finalized plan yet.”

Peter Lynch stroked his chin thoughtfully.

“Then, JP Morgan or Bank of America, who are aware of this plan, must have leaked the rumors.”

Jung Hyun-woo shook his head.

“I don’t believe so.”

“You don’t think so? Charlie, what do you mean?”

“Well… neither company is aware of this plan.”

Peter Lynch was taken aback by his response.

“Really?”

“Really.”

“Then who leaked the rumors?”

Jung Hyun-woo replied hesitantly.

“It must be Walmart.”

“Are you suggesting Walmart leaked the rumors to bolster Victoria Corporation’s listing?”

Jung Hyun-woo nodded.

“I believe that’s the most likely explanation.”

He knew this rumor was a gift from Vice Chairman Bud Walton.

‘They’re giving me a significant boost right from the start.’

High market expectations would cause the stock price to soar on its debut. However, the stock market wasn’t the only consideration.

‘If I fail to meet those expectations, the stock price will plummet.’

He viewed Bud Walton’s support as a double-edged sword.

“Walmart seems to have a clear motive.”

“It was just one meeting, but the response was encouraging.”

“Did the person in charge react favorably?”

“I met with Vice Chairman Bud Walton.”

Peter Lynch’s eyes widened upon learning that Jung Hyun-woo had met with Vice Chairman Bud Walton.

“You met with Vice Chairman Walton?”

“Yes.”

“Then wouldn’t that imply the deal is practically sealed?”

Jung Hyun-woo had previously indicated that Walmart’s response was positive.

Combining his statements, it suggested that Vice Chairman Bud Walton’s reaction was favorable.

“No agreements have been signed yet.”

“But it’s not just a baseless rumor, is it?”

“That’s correct.”

Peter Lynch wasn’t one to make investments based solely on inside information.

However, he couldn’t simply ignore the information he had inadvertently obtained.

‘I need to thoroughly re-evaluate my investment in Victoria Corporation.’

He questioned Jung Hyun-woo.

“Are you coming to New York tomorrow?”

Victoria Corporation was scheduled to be officially listed on the NASDAQ and begin trading shares the following day.

“Sarah insisted that I attend tomorrow.”

“Is the location the New York Stock Exchange?”

“That’s right. They mentioned a ceremony and photo opportunities.”

“Then I’ll see you at the stock exchange tomorrow.”

Jung Hyun-woo nodded in response to Peter Lynch’s words.

“Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Click.

He hung up the phone and released a long sigh.

“Hoo… Vice Chairman Bud’s support.”

It was a somewhat burdensome form of support.

* * *

Before departing for New York, Jung Hyun-woo convened a final executive meeting. Robert, Sarah, John River, and Western Regional Director Mac Coyle were in attendance.

“Let’s commence the meeting with the second-quarter plan and schedule.”

As Victoria Corporation’s regular meeting, it began with a formal tone.

“Shall we start with John?”

John River clasped his hands together and responded.

“The game division will prioritize finalizing the new game in the second quarter and focus on the game to be released as a third-party title for Nintendo.”

The game division had achieved moderate success in the first quarter.

“Is the game being released for Nintendo the Zero series?”

The Zero series, developed by Jung Hyun-woo, was a game for which Victoria Corporation held complete rights and code.

“No, it is not.”

“It’s a different game from the Zero series.”

In the past year, Jung Hyun-woo would have been involved in all third-party games, but he no longer had the capacity to do so.

“We plan to launch with Lambda as the opening game.”

Lambda was the game division’s initial release, launched at the end of the previous year and achieved positive results.

“You’re saying you’re opening with the latest game.”

“We agreed [맞춰습니다, matchueotseumnida, Korean for ‘we agreed’].”

Nintendo had requested the latest installment, Lambda.

“Are the contract terms the same?”

John River nodded in affirmation.

“They are the same.”

The third-party conditions remained unchanged until the end of the US expansion.

“How many will you release for the initial launch?”

Jung Hyun-woo wanted to know the number of cartridges that would be produced for the first edition.

“We are considering approximately 100,000.”

With the North American game industry experiencing a downturn, 100,000 first editions was a significant number.

“Would that be feasible?”

Jung Hyun-woo was concerned about potential leftover stock.

“I’ll find a way to sell them.”

John River’s voice carried a hint of determination.

Jung Hyun-woo observed his eyes and tone and nodded.

“Okay. I’ll entrust this to John.”

He shifted his gaze to Western Regional Director Mac Coyle.

“Mac, how is the Western Regional Headquarters progressing?”

Mac Coyle consulted the data he had prepared for Jung Hyun-woo’s question and responded.

“The Western Regional Headquarters proposes creating a dedicated team to collaborate with Microsoft in the second quarter. To achieve this, we plan to request support from 7 developers from headquarters.”

Jung Hyun-woo intended to delegate the collaboration with Microsoft to the Western Regional Headquarters.

“Is seven people enough?”

He and Mac Coyle had already agreed on the developers who would move to the Western Regional Headquarters.

This question was to reconfirm whether that agreement was sufficient.

“It’s enough.”

Jung Hyun-woo nodded at his answer.

“Mac, if you determine that there is a shortage of development personnel, contact headquarters immediately.”

He had experienced several cases where trying to solve unresolved problems alone led to bigger issues.

“Understood. I will report any development problems immediately.”

The Western Regional Headquarters had just opened, so the report concluded there.

Next was Jung Hyun-woo’s turn. He was in charge of Victoria Corporation’s development headquarters.

“The headquarters development team will prioritize building the City Service in the second quarter. If possible, we aim to launch the service within that quarter.”

Robert put his hands together and asked.

“Charlie, isn’t launching the service in the second quarter too rushed?”

He thought it would be difficult to complete both development and testing within the second quarter.

‘Not only JP Service but also American Service took well over three months.’

Even if know-how had accumulated from the previous two services, a three-month development period was still too short.

Jung Hyun-woo answered his question.

“We plan to mobilize all the development teams that participated in JP Service and American Service.”

He intended to reduce the time by doubling the development personnel.

Robert already knew that the headquarters development team would be fully mobilized. Nevertheless, he couldn’t help but worry about the lack of time.

“Charlie, the testing period should be at least one month.”

He was a developer himself, so he knew how important pre-release testing was.

Of course, Jung Hyun-woo also knew that pre-release testing was important.

Rather than raising objections, he accepted Robert’s opinion.

“Understood. We will conduct at least one month of testing for the City Service.”

One month of testing meant that development had to be completed within two months.

Sarah sighed briefly to herself.

‘Haa… the schedule is too tight.’

She was worried about the short schedule, but Jung Hyun-woo spoke with confidence, so she didn’t stop him. Instead, she asked a question in another direction.

“Charlie, if all personnel are put into City Service development, what about the next version of JP Service?”

JP Service had been updated to a new version earlier this year.

“It might be a little difficult to update in the second half of the year.”

Jung Hyun-woo was also human. He couldn’t do everything at the same time.

“So, the new version is pushed back from the third to the fourth quarter?”

Jung Hyun-woo nodded at her question.

“I guess so.”

Sarah said in a dry voice.

“Charlie, it’s okay to postpone it once, but not twice.”

This meant either increasing development personnel or reducing projects.

“It’ll be fine since we talked about it last time.”

After answering Sarah, Jung Hyun-woo turned his gaze to Robert.

“Robert, how is the acquisition of the production company going?”

Sarah had suggested that he acquire a game company or software development company to increase personnel.

Robert unfolded his hands and answered.

“We are in discussions with the private equity fund that owns Activision for around $10 million.”

“What about MIM and Meteo?”

MIM was a game company like Activision, and Meteo was a software development company for designers.

“The side that owns MIM is asking for too high a price, so there is no progress in negotiations. And Meteo has not yet received an accurate valuation.”

Progress was slower than expected for both companies.

Jung Hyun-woo raised his eyebrows and asked.

“How much is MIM asking for?”

“They are demanding around $10 million, similar to Activision.”

In a weak North American game market, $10 million was not just expensive but extortionate.

“That’s not good.”

“It seems they are trying to take advantage of the fact that we have a lot of money.”

Trying to rip off the rich to make a fortune.

‘It’s an obvious trick.’

Jung Hyun-woo sighed and asked.

“Haa… So, what are MIM’s capabilities?”

In the past, there was an incomparable difference compared to Activision.

“I think it’s about 50% of Activision’s level.”

“Then $5 million would be an appropriate amount.”

Robert nodded and took his words.

“We also need to calculate the value of their IPs [Intellectual Properties], so I think $3 million to $4 million would be an appropriate amount.”

Jung Hyun-woo raised his right hand with the palm facing out and said.

“Let’s bid up to $6 million, and if they ask for more than that, let’s look for another company.”

$6 million.

Robert slightly raised the end of his words, questioning.

“Isn’t $6 million a bit too much?”

He thought that even if he gave MIM a lot, $5 million was the limit.

“We don’t have much time.”

“Time?”

“It means that while negotiating to save $1 million, software development is delayed, resulting in greater losses.”

Time is money.

Robert nodded as if he understood Jung Hyun-woo’s words.

“I understand what you mean. Then I will slightly increase the offer with Meteo as well.”

“Not just Meteo, but if there are any companies that look good, acquire them right away. The budget is sufficient.”

The budget is sufficient.

This meant that he would boldly invest the money raised from the NASDAQ listing in corporate acquisitions.

After Jung Hyun-woo’s presentation, Robert and Sarah’s presentations followed.

Robert’s presentation focused on the second-quarter AS [After Service] strategy and the operation of G-Shop, and Sarah’s presentation focused on expanding personnel and offices at headquarters, and building a data center.

After all the presentations were over.

Jung Hyun-woo tapped the documents and said.

“I will end the regular meeting here.”

Victoria Corporation executives got up from their seats and acknowledged his words.

“Thank you for your hard work.”

Jung Hyun-woo was also about to get up from his seat like them. Then Sarah came over and asked.

“Shall we talk?”

Jung Hyun-woo nodded and sat back down.

“Sure.”

He thought it would be about the NASDAQ listing tomorrow.

But after everyone left, Sarah brought up another story.

“About corporate acquisitions. It’s not good to acquire them at too high a price.”

Instead of refuting her words, Jung Hyun-woo asked for the reason.

“What’s the reason? Is it because of wastefulness?”

Sarah shook her head.

“It’s because of the image rather than waste.”

“Image?”

“If you give them everything they ask for, you might get an image of being a pushover.”

Jung Hyun-woo could understand what her advice meant.

“You mean that if you build up an image of being an easy target, it can be disadvantageous in future transactions.”

“Right. Right now, it’s millions of dollars from $10 million, but it’s difficult to proceed with contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars in this way.”

Sarah’s advice was pointed.

“Okay. I’ll try not to be a pushover next time.”

Sarah raised her eyebrows at his answer.

“Are you going to go ahead with it this time?”

She wanted to change the instructions she had given to Robert. But Jung Hyun-woo had no intention of doing so.

“I have to go as is.”

“Why?”

“Because there’s no time.”

Sarah sighed briefly.

“Haa… It’s not that there’s no time to that extent.”

She thought that time was not very tight because she had postponed the update of JP Service by one quarter.

But there was one incident that only Jung Hyun-woo knew.

“We need to finalize the acquisition of the development company before Nintendo enters the North American market.”

Sarah narrowed her brows and asked.

“You need to finalize the acquisition before Nintendo enters? What’s the reason?”

Jung Hyun-woo emphasized his point and answered.

“Nintendo will be a huge success in North America. And their great success will revive the North American game market.”

If the game market revives, it was natural for the value of game companies to skyrocket.

“No way.”

“It’s not no way. I saw the data John sent me a while ago. Nintendo will definitely succeed.”

Jung Hyun-woo was not putting a premium on the development company, but betting on Nintendo’s success.