Golden Print [EN]: Chapter 307

“You do know the total market value of the shares SH is trying to sell, don’t you?”

When Song Ju-bin asked, Woo-jin answered quickly and clearly.

“Of course.”

“In that case, the amount WJ Studio can afford is…”

They looked at each other.

Woo-jin then spoke clearly and confidently.

“243.7 billion. I am willing to pay exactly half.”

When Woo-jin said the exact amount, the room went silent for a moment.

243.7 billion.

This was the exact amount to buy half the shares, as Woo-jin had said. Ju-bin’s mind was now even more complicated. He wondered how Woo-jin could have so much money.

“Hmm… You don’t seem like someone who would talk about such important things without being serious…”

“Of course not.”

If he was just testing the situation, he wouldn’t have mentioned such a specific amount right away.

“Just a moment. Can you give me a moment to think?”

“Take as much time as you need.”

To Ju-bin, Woo-jin’s words were hard to believe but also hard to ignore.

‘WJ Studio has the money to pay 240 billion?’

As a professional investor before becoming a businessman, Ju-bin knew about WJ Studio.

This company’s value had grown quickly after it started selling shares. The stock price went up and up fast.

Especially in the construction business, where stock prices don’t usually change much, this was very unusual.

But no matter how much WJ Studio had grown.

It was hard to believe that a new architecture and design company could get together 200 billion so quickly.

‘Unless they found an oil field while building something… How could this be possible?’

If Song Ju-bin had another option besides Woo-jin, he might have politely refused Woo-jin. Because his offer just didn’t seem possible.

Woo-jin understood this, so he quietly drank his coffee, waiting for Ju-bin to think things over.

Ju-bin didn’t know how Woo-jin had grown his business so quickly.

He didn’t know that Woo-jin could go back in time.

So, Ju-bin’s reaction was normal.

After thinking for a while, Ju-bin spoke again.

“How long do you need to get the money ready?”

“About half of it is already prepared…”

“……!”

“If you give me until November, I can get the rest.”

Again, the answer was quick, clear, and accurate.

So Ju-bin, who needed help urgently, had to say this to Woo-jin.

“I’ll hold a meeting with the board right away, maybe even tomorrow.”

“The sooner, the better, of course. Thank you.”

“And I’d like to call you tomorrow, even if it’s a bit late… Would that be alright?”

“Just call before midnight. Haha.”

“It won’t be that late.”

As of 2016, the value of the top construction companies in the market was:

SH Corporation – ₩16.825 trillion

Jeun Construction – ₩13.1179 trillion

Myungsung Construction – ₩7.9912 trillion

Taejin Construction – ₩7.3549 trillion

Chilseong Construction – ₩6.6788 trillion

Cheonwoong Construction – ₩6.5592 trillion

……Omission……

GA Engineering ₩3.2915 trillion

WJ Studio ₩2.9811 trillion

However, the order of the construction ability rankings was not exactly the same as the market value rankings.

Even in the construction industry, money is often spread out in different business areas.

Even SH Corporation and Jeun Construction, which had much higher market values than other construction companies, weren’t that different from lower-ranked companies when it came to construction ability.

And the most unusual ranking on this list was WJ Studio.

WJ Studio’s market value was almost half that of Cheonwoong Construction, but its construction ability was ranked almost 10 times lower.

The reason WJ Studio’s ranking was so unusual was simple.

After hiring Park Kyung-wan, WJ Studio had grown a lot in construction, but this growth was mostly because of other things.

“No… How can a construction company have such a high profit margin?”

“What do you mean, Director Kim?”

“This information doesn’t make sense.”

“Why?”

“I’m looking at the financial reports, and I don’t think we should call this a construction company.”

Usually, construction companies don’t make a lot of profit compared to how much money they make.

This is normal because construction is a business with high costs.

But WJ Studio was different.

WJ Studio made most of its money from design, real estate investment, and renting out property, not from construction.

Over the past few years, Woo-jin had kept investing in real estate whenever he had extra money.

The results were hard to believe, even when you saw them yourself.

Even the people at the professional investment firm KCA Investment were seeing returns that were almost impossible.

“I thought I had added an extra zero by mistake.”

“……”

“Is CEO Seo Woo-jin a real estate investment expert instead of a designer?”

“Well, can even a professional investor make this much profit?”

“Hmm……”

“Director Kim, can you do it?”

“No. I can’t. This is an amazing investment.”

So, the board members of KCA Investment, who had looked at WJ Studio before calling Woo-jin, all agreed.

The reason they had the meeting was because they weren’t sure if WJ Studio could handle 200 billion.

But after checking the information, they decided that it was possible.

In fact, most of the board members thought that WJ Studio was worth more than its financial reports showed.

“Wow, even unlikely things can happen…”

“We can come back thanks to CEO Seo Woo-jin.”

“What are the conditions? CEO Seo isn’t doing this for free, so he’ll want something.”

“I’ll set up another meeting once we have all the information.”

“Good.”

“He’ll probably want the design and construction rights to go to WJ Studio.”

“They can’t handle the construction at WJ Studio, even if they do the design. They aren’t good enough at construction.”

“Then they’ll want at least some construction rights.”

After the meeting, KCA Investment checked their own ability to raise money.

They needed to make sure they could handle the rest of the money if WJ Studio paid for 250 billion won worth of shares.

And the result was…

“Alright, CEO Seo Woo-jin.”

“Then is everything settled now?”

“Of course. Let’s finish the contract and sign it in November.”

Woo-jin was able to get involved in the big SGBC project as he had planned.

He didn’t just win the design bid.

He was now in a position to lead the project along with the developers and construction companies.

And this was very important.

The Samsung Global Business Center project was one of the biggest construction projects in the country.

Woo-jin was now able to manage such a big project himself.

‘Now, I can do the design and planning exactly how I want. Without having to worry about what others think.’

At the same time, he was also able to give a gift to Cheonwoong Construction.

“Chairman Cheon. I kept my promise.”

“Ehehehe. A promise… I never thought you’d be able to keep that promise.”

During the contract with KCA Investment, he was able to choose Cheonwoong Construction as the construction company for SGBC.

“That’s a disappointing thing to say. I really meant it.”

“Hehe. If I got this much construction work after giving up Park Kyung-wan, it seems like I made a good deal.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Oh ho.”

“If it wasn’t for Director Park Kyung-wan, our WJ Studio wouldn’t have come this far.”

“Haha. Park Kyung-wan has found a good new boss. If he heard this, he would cry.”

And this was the promise he made with Cheon Jong-geol when he brought Park Kyung-wan from Cheonwoong Construction.

[Instead, I will bring Cheonwoong a project worth trillions of won within a few years.]

He had kept that promise.

“There are no problems with any of the contracts.”

“Then can we move forward?”

And so, on a day in November 2016.

“Please take care of me, Director Song Ju-bin.”

“I should be the one saying that, CEO Seo.”

Woo-jin signed the contract for the transfer of shares in the SGBC project.

“We will finish the basic design by early next year and have it checked.”

“Haha, the contract says, ‘The design rights are transferred with the agreement of all project members,’ but it’s already decided, right?”

“Still, we have to do our work well.”

“Hehe, of course.”

“I will build the most beautiful landmark in Seoul.”

“We are really looking forward to CEO Seo’s work. Hahaha.”

The details of this contract between WJ Studio and KCA Investment quickly spread throughout the industry.

Because the SGBC project was so big, it was impossible to keep it a secret.

The articles about WJ Studio, which were always popular, spread quickly and became a hot topic online again.

Because people were excited about the big project, WJ Studio’s stock price started to rise again.

And so, when the new year of 2017 came.

The most talked-about article about WJ Studio was Seo Woo-jin’s interview.

[Question – You recently bought some of the shares in the SGBC project.]

[Answer – Yes, I did.]

[Question – Can I ask you one last thing about this?]

[Answer – Of course. What are you curious about?]

[Question – Investing hundreds of billions of won was a big move, considering the size of WJ Studio. Is that right?]

[Answer – I agree. I went a little too far.]

[Question – In a previous interview, you said that you joined SGBC because you wanted to achieve your dreams as an architect and designer… But I wondered if just winning the design bid was enough to achieve that dream.]

[Answer – Haha, I can see why you might think that.]

[Question – So, if you don’t mind, I’d like to hear more about why you pushed yourself so hard.]

[Answer – You think there’s a special reason?]

[Question – Hmm… Something like that.]

[Answer – But unfortunately, there’s no special reason.]

[Question – Is that… so?]

[Answer – I just wanted to do my own design more completely. ‘My own architecture.’]

[Question – Are you saying… ?]

[Answer – I’m saying that I wanted to have as little interference as possible in the design and planning that I would create with all my effort.]

[Question – Really, that’s amazing.]

[Answer – What I care about most in all my decisions is the endless desire for design and architecture.]