The Conglomerate Family Became A Villain [EN]: Chapter 263

263. To a New World (3)

On the way home from work.

As the road began to clog with traffic, the driver asked,

“Shall we take a detour, sir?”

After briefly surveying the surroundings, Jung Hyun-woo waved his hand and replied,

“No. Let’s go the usual way.”

After the conversation with the driver, Sera asked as Jung Hyun-woo’s gaze returned to the front,

“So, what did Alan say?”

The Alan she mentioned was Alan Greenspan, the newly appointed Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board.

Alan Greenspan had just become the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, so not much was known about him.

“He asked to meet.”

“Out of the blue?”

“He said he had something to discuss regarding the U.S. money supply.”

“He wants to talk to Charlie about the money supply?”

Jung Hyun-woo shrugged and replied,

“It’s strange, but that’s really what he said.”

“What are you planning to say when you meet him?”

“I haven’t prepared anything special.”

“Hmm, that means you’ll improvise.”

Jung Hyun-woo nodded and said,

“The topic is strange, isn’t it? Money supply…….”

*Unless it’s a way to solve the economic recession?*

The money supply was not his area of expertise.

“Where are you meeting Alan?”

“Washington.”

“Washington again?”

“I should go since I’m younger.”

“Shouldn’t Charlie try to refuse at least once now?”

She meant that as the number one richest man in the United States, he shouldn’t just accept every request from the U.S. government.

“I’ll think about it if I get the chance next time.”

“Your answer is lukewarm.”

“Sera, let’s talk more about the fund instead.”

Sera and Jung Hyun-woo were discussing the opening of Victoria Fund after the executive meeting.

“Have you thought deeply about the fund?”

“Lyra had requested something similar to what Sera said before.”

Sera raised her eyebrows slightly.

“Miss Marin?”

“She suggested sharing investment information and co-investing.”

“You rejected that offer, right?”

Jung Hyun-woo answered her question calmly.

“I did.”

“Why did you reject it?”

“It just gets too big.”

Sera sighed softly and said,

“Hoo……. Then the answer will be the same this time.”

She expected him to reject it this time as well.

“No.”

*Was it because it was her suggestion?*

The answer was different from when Lyra Marin had suggested it.

Sera’s eyebrows naturally went up.

“Huh? No?”

“Let’s open the fund halfway.”

Sera lowered her raised eyebrows and asked,

“What do you mean by opening the fund halfway?”

“It’s difficult to open it completely, but I think we can receive investments from companies or acquaintances we do business with.”

“Charlie, that’s not half, it’s like opening the door just a tiny bit?”

Jung Hyun-woo turned his gaze out the window.

“Still, it’s much more of a concession than closing it completely.”

“And if you decide on the investment target that way, it will be Charlie’s job, not John’s, right?”

If it were an official opening, John Pier would recruit investors, but if it were acquaintances or business partners, Jung Hyun-woo would have to be in charge of recruiting investors.

“Let’s leave this to Olivia.”

Olivia was Sera’s former secretary and is currently working as an executive at Activision.

“Charlie is definitely planning to divide the work.”

“Because Sera wants that.”

Sera said in a soft voice.

“Hoo, what’s gotten into you? Charlie is listening to everything I say.”

Jung Hyun-woo raised his voice slightly.

“Haven’t I always listened to Sera well?”

“No, you haven’t.”

“Really?”

“I’ll talk to Olivia. Charlie, tell John.”

Jung Hyun-woo nodded at her words.

“Okay. I’ll tell John about opening the fund. And…….”

“Olivia’s replacement, right?”

“I don’t have anyone in mind yet.”

“How about Luna?”

Jung Hyun-woo shook his head.

“If you send Luna to Activision, I’ll have to hire a new secretary.”

He didn’t want to change secretaries every year.

“Then who do you want to send, Charlie?”

“I don’t have anyone suitable, so I’m asking Sera.”

When Luna was rejected, Sera talked about the next person.

“Shall we send Tom this time?”

Tom was Sera’s secretary.

“Olivia was also Sera’s secretary. If you send Sera’s secretary to Activision in a row, people will think it’s strange.”

At his rejection, Sera paused for a moment. Then she raised her right hand and said,

“Let’s send Yena.”

“Yena?”

Sera nodded and replied,

“She was meticulous when she was in the business support team.”

“Hmm, it’s going to be difficult if she’s too meticulous.”

Jung Hyun-woo wanted to send a messenger for communication, not a supervisor, to Activision.

“Can’t we just tell her to be meticulous only when looking at ledgers or data?”

“A meticulous person unknowingly reveals that tendency in their words and actions.”

“Another rejection.”

“I think it can’t be helped this time. Activision is a company that needs to develop games freely.”

Sera was lost in thought again.

In the meantime, the car carrying the two broke through the congested road and got on the highway. And at the same time, the scenery outside the window rushed past quickly.

“Let’s send Lee.”

Linuuz Korhonen.

He was an exchange student from Finland, Jung Hyun-woo’s MIT classmate, and a member who helped in the early days of Victoria Corporation.

He is currently working as an employee of Victoria Corporation.

“Are you saying we should send Lee to an executive position?”

“It’s not a position to manage people. Isn’t it enough to like games and be faithful to Charlie’s messenger role?”

Jung Hyun-woo thought her words sounded plausible.

*Lee might be a better fit for Activision…….*

He nodded and replied,

“Hmm, Lee might be okay.”

“Then let’s go with Lee.”

“Are we deciding here?”

“Is there any reason not to?”

“Robert told me to be sure to discuss it with him.”

Sera smiled awkwardly at his words.

“Y-yes, he did.”

She turned her gaze away and thought.

*Charlie seems naive, but he’s meticulous.*

Jung Hyun-woo never forgot important requests or promises.

* * *

Jung Hyun-woo’s visit was unofficial, so the meeting with the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board took place in a small villa.

“Not a hotel, I see.”

Alan Greenspan was a thin, middle-aged man wearing glasses.

“There are too many eyes watching in hotels.”

He mainly used stiff words rather than soft rhetoric.

“I didn’t know the Fed [Federal Reserve System] would be interested in our company.”

“We had no choice but to pay attention to a company that caused problems with the money supply in the United States.”

A company that caused problems with the money supply.

Jung Hyun-woo couldn’t help but feel a little nervous.

*Is there some kind of misunderstanding between the Fed and us? The U.S. money supply and Victoria Corporation have nothing to do with each other.*

He quickly turned his head.

*Hmm, are they perhaps questioning the financial system?*

Victoria Corporation participated in the New York Stock Exchange’s trading system improvement project last year.

There may have been bugs or problems at that time.

*It would be troublesome if that were the case.*

He raised his voice slightly.

“Is it a network system problem?”

Alan Greenspan replied in a dry voice.

“It’s not a network problem.”

“Then what is the problem?”

Alan Greenspan placed a newspaper on the table. The front page of the newspaper he placed had an article centered on Victoria Corporation.

Jung Hyun-woo could guess the content without reading the article in detail.

“Are you saying that our company’s investment in Japan is causing problems with the money supply?”

Alan Greenspan nodded.

“A large amount of dollars has been flowing out to Japan since last year.”

Jung Hyun-woo knew what dollars he was referring to that were flowing out to Japan.

*He is referring to the dollars leaving the United States for investment in Japan, not the dollars used to import and pay for Japanese goods.*

He couldn’t help but be surprised to learn that the Fed viewed Victoria Corporation in this light.

*If he thinks we triggered the investment in Japan, sanctions may begin.*

Of course, the Federal Reserve Board had no means or method to sanction Victoria Corporation.

However, their analysis could influence the decisions of the U.S. Treasury Department and the President.

What Jung Hyun-woo was worried about was sanctions from the U.S. government.

*It will be difficult if we are passive.*

He wanted to actively address this issue.

“Mr. Greenspan, it is not our responsibility that the number of companies imitating our company is increasing.”

Alan Greenspan put his hands together and took his words.

“If an ordinary private equity fund said that, I would say that’s right. But Mr. Jung’s company is not an ordinary private equity fund.”

Jung Hyun-woo did not back down and raised his voice slightly.

“If it’s not an ordinary fund, is it a special fund?”

Alan Greenspan nodded and replied,

“It’s a fund that all Americans are watching.”

*All Americans are watching.*

Jung Hyun-woo thought it was an overestimation.

“Our company’s influence is not that great. There are plenty of famous companies in the investment world.”

“Well. You are moving the money of the company that achieved the world’s number one market capitalization and is currently the number one market capitalization company in the United States. If you don’t pay attention to such a fund, what company should you pay attention to?”

Alan Greenspan’s question was similar to that of a detective or prosecutor.

Jung Hyun-woo sighed deeply inside.

*Haa……. I feel like I’m being interrogated.*

He had not anticipated this situation at all when he flew to Washington.

“So, what does the Fed want our company to do?”

Jung Hyun-woo thought that the answer to this question was the reason he was called today.

*Now his true intentions will come out.*

Alan Greenspan replied in a calm tone.

“Mr. Jung, please set an example.”

*Set an example.*

It was an unexpected answer.

“Set an example?”

“Show the American people, or rather, American investors, what kind of investments they should make.”

Jung Hyun-woo raised his eyebrows at his answer.

“Isn’t it an individual’s freedom where and how much we invest?”

The value that symbolizes the United States was freedom. He wanted to remind Alan Greenspan of that.

However, Alan Greenspan did not back down.

“Because it is freedom, I said to set an example. If Mr. Jung and Victoria Fund set an example, many people will be able to enter the right path.”

The right path he was thinking of was investing in the United States, not Japan.

“It sounds like you’re telling us to withdraw from Japan.”

Alan Greenspan said with his hands together.

“It doesn’t have to be a lot of money.”

Jung Hyun-woo raised his eyebrows and asked,

“Are you saying that it just needs to be an amount that will make the news?”

He thought that the Federal Reserve Board wanted to play the media through Victoria Fund.

*That’s a nasty trick.*

Politics and economics were inseparable issues. Jung Hyun-woo knew that, so he was actively lobbying politicians.

“If Victoria Fund cooperates with this, there will be various benefits.”

“I’d like to hear what kind of benefits.”

Alan Greenspan adjusted his glasses and said,

“I can’t answer that right now.”

*Benefits that cannot be answered.*

Jung Hyun-woo knew what these benefits were.

*It’s just an empty promise.*

His mouth felt gritty, as if he had chewed sand.

*To come all the way to Washington to hear this kind of story.*

Today’s meeting was frankly unpleasant.

“Could you tell me whose idea today’s meeting was?”

Alan Greenspan answered his question.

“It’s my idea.”

“The Chairman’s idea?”

“I thought that Mr. Jung would surely set an example for the United States.”

Jung Hyun-woo raised the corners of his lips and asked.

“Does the Chairman perhaps know that I am not an American?”

He was saying not to expect patriotism from him.

“I know. But you will soon become an American, won’t you?”

Jung Hyun-woo had never said that he would change his nationality. It was a story that he couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows at.

“I’m becoming an American?”

Alan Greenspan had a knack for telling surprising stories with a very casual face.

“If Mr. Jung marries Miss Hilton, won’t he get American citizenship?”

Jung Hyun-woo was momentarily speechless at his question.

“W-well…….”

Alan Greenspan took out the next newspaper and placed it on the desk.

“Americans all think so.”

The bottom of the front page of the newspaper had a friendly picture of Jung Hyun-woo and Sera.

Jung Hyun-woo could guess the content without reading the article this time as well.

“The Chairman seems to trust the contents of the newspaper 100%.”

Alan Greenspan leaned back and said,

“I didn’t just refer to the newspaper. I also heard the story from Mr. Hilton.”

*Mr. Hilton.*

The Mr. Hilton he mentioned seemed to be Sera’s father, Andrew Hilton.

*Ah, was that what he meant by asking me to take care of his daughter?*

Jung Hyun-woo recalled the past conversation and sighed briefly inside.

“Even if all of this is true, the state cannot unilaterally force patriotism on an individual.”

Alan Greenspan did not budge even though he strained his neck.

“That’s why I said there are benefits, didn’t I?”

Jung Hyun-woo couldn’t help but tilt his head at his very casual words.

*Are there really benefits?*

If there really were benefits, wouldn’t they be benefits such as tax cuts or exemptions from tax audits?

*But those are things that are not related to the Fed.*

Jung Hyun-woo took the strength out of his neck and took his words.

“Okay. I’ll trust the Chairman.”

Alan Greenspan asked Jung Hyun-woo.

“When are you planning to start withdrawing from Japan?”

Jung Hyun-woo countered his question.

“When do you think would be good, Chairman?”

“The sooner the better on this side.”

“Is the situation that urgent?”

Alan Greenspan nodded lightly.

“Five times more dollars than we expected have left the United States this year.”

Jung Hyun-woo asked him again.

“If a lot of dollars go to Japan, doesn’t the value of the yen go up? Isn’t this what the U.S. government and financial authorities wanted?”

*Remind him of the purpose of the Plaza Accord [agreement signed in 1985 to depreciate the U.S. dollar relative to the Japanese yen and German Deutsche Mark].*

Alan Greenspan calmly took his question this time as well.

“The Japanese government’s interest rate cut did not produce the effect we wanted. Moreover, apart from the rise in the value of the yen, the U.S. financial market is falling into recession as dollars leave the U.S. financial market. Isn’t this also acting unfavorably on Mr. Jung and Victoria Corporation?”

*Is this what it means to speak clearly?*

There was no gap in his story.

“You’re saying that Victoria Corporation’s market capitalization is not rising because money is leaving the New York financial market.”

“We think so.”

Jung Hyun-woo asked.

“Are there others besides us?”

He thought that there were financial tycoons behind Alan Greenspan, even if not a secret organization.

*It’s not JP Morgan again, is it.*

Victoria Corporation had been maintaining a long-standing cooperative relationship with JP Morgan based on JP Services, but he did not completely trust them.

“It’s the Fed.”

*It means the thoughts of the Federal Reserve Board members.*

“Are you saying that’s what the Fed is thinking?”

“Is it strange?”

“I didn’t know the Fed was paying this much attention to our company.”

Alan Greenspan said in his unique calm voice.

“It’s not just the Fed that’s paying attention to Victoria Corporation. The Treasury Department and the IRS [Internal Revenue Service] are also paying attention.”

The latter two were troublesome names for business people.

“I’m not particularly happy.”

“Mr. Jung, think of it as the weight of the crown.”

It meant the attention that a company that ranks first in the United States, and further, first in the world, would receive.

“IBM wasn’t like this.”

IBM was the company that had been ranked number one in the world for several years before Victoria Corporation.

“Mr. Jung, IBM did not invest in Japan.”

Jung Hyun-woo thought.

*He’s the kind of person who wouldn’t bleed a drop even if you stabbed him.*

He said in a subdued voice.

“We will start recovering the investment from 1988.”

Alan Greenspan raised his voice.

“Is it difficult in the second half of this year?”

He was saying to start withdrawing in the second half of 1987. Of course, Jung Hyun-woo had no intention of moving according to their wishes.

*I have at least a minimum of pride on this side.*

He looked at Alan Greenspan and said,

“I think we need time to seek understanding from Japan as well.”

It is not only the U.S. government that Victoria Corporation has to be aware of.

Alan Greenspan thought for a moment and then said,

“Okay. Then I’ll know it as January 1988.”

*Let’s take half a step back from each other.*

Jung Hyun-woo listened to his words and thought.

*There’s a reason why he left his name in history.*

Alan Greenspan was more than the rumors said.