Still, I Will Live As The Son-In-Law Of A Conglomerate [EN]: Chapter 183

183. The Feast Should Be Shared (2)

Park Tae-jin, Seon Hae-cheol, and I arrived in New York and headed straight to Standard Capital’s headquarters.

“It took exactly five years to make this our building, haha.”

The building that housed Standard Capital’s offices had now been transformed into a dedicated headquarters owned by Standard Capital. Thanks to thriving businesses in both Korea and the United States, the company had grown in scale and acquired the building outright.

“I know, right? I never thought we’d be acquiring this building.”

“I wonder how much bigger the building we’ll use as our headquarters will be in the future, haha.”

Seon Hae-cheol and Park Tae-jin also seemed to be filled with new emotions. I smiled at them and went through a simple authentication process before heading up to the office.

“Has everyone been doing well?”

“Johnny?”

The eyes of the founding board members widened at my greeting as I opened the office door. As I shook hands with those who jumped up from their seats to greet me, I noticed my aunt was also there.

“Johnny!”

Claire, six months pregnant, greeted me happily with her bulging belly. After a light hug and a quick kiss on the cheek, Claire smiled brightly.

“Did things work out well in Korea?”

“Thanks to you. Let’s talk about the details inside.”

We went into the conference room and told Claire about what had happened in Korea.

“The government told companies to change…”

Like a true American, Claire couldn’t hide her surprise.

Wasn’t it unimaginable in the leading market economy of the United States? The Big Deals [government-mandated restructuring of large corporations] that the Korean government was forcing on the chaebols [large family-owned conglomerates].

“The Korean government holds the reins of the economy right now. With the owner of Daeju Group gone amidst the Big Deals, the game will get even bigger and more intense.”

Seon Hae-cheol spoke to Claire, who was nodding at my words.

“HaeDong Group will also be participating in the acquisition, so it would be good to form a consortium with Triumph’s Korean branch for the Daeju Heavy Industries acquisition bid. What do you think?”

After a moment of silence, Claire nodded.

“That would be good. If the two companies join forces, the chances of winning the bid will be higher. My father would be pleased too, hehe.”

Seeing Claire calling Henry “Father” so naturally made me happy. Wasn’t it just a few years ago that Henry and Claire were awkward with each other?

“That’s a relief. Anyway, that’s all for the situation in Korea. How about the situation in the United States?”

“It’s going so well that it’s a problem. I think we should call in the other members for the details, is that okay?”

Was there any need to ask? To avoid burdening Claire, who was working at the company even during her pregnancy, the help of the board members was essential.

“Of course. Let’s do that.”

Claire immediately pressed the intercom to call the board members. Soon, the board members entered the conference room, and the meeting began.

“Let’s start by looking at the overall picture.”

“Bank loans are stable. The exchange rate in the Korean market is stabilizing, and our shares provided as collateral are being positively evaluated, so there are no problems with readjusting the collateral.”

“The IT companies we’ve directly invested in have also seen their values rise. We’re so swamped with investment proposals that we’re short on manpower, haha.”

“The cinema fund’s returns are also good. Above all, Rupert Murdoch of Fox is reportedly shedding tears because of the Titanic profits, hehe.”

Time flew by quickly as we received the backlog of reports, but most of them were good. Except for one thing.

“Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, and others have recommended investing in Russian government bonds.”

“Russian government bonds?”

“Yes. The bond yields aren’t bad, but with the lifting of economic sanctions against Iraq and the release of Iraqi crude oil into the market, the outlook for international oil prices is negative, so we’ve put it on hold. What do you think, Johnny?”

The driving force of the Russian economy is oil and gas. Considering the trends in the international oil market, I nodded with a calm expression at their decision to postpone investing in Russian government bonds.

“I agree. Don’t invest in Russian government bonds. There’s the oil price issue, but it wouldn’t be surprising if they went bankrupt at any time, so the investment banks will later try to lowball the Russian government bonds.”

It wouldn’t make sense for the Wall Street investment banks that sold the Russian government bonds to devalue those Russian government bonds, but the greed of Wall Street investment banks is endless.

No less greedy than these investment banks, the Russian government would also brazenly default, so it was impossible to tell who was more shameless.

Although I didn’t tell them in detail, everyone now nodded without questioning my opinion. Taking advantage of the momentum, I put forward another proposal.

“If Russia declares a moratorium because of the investment banks, LTCM [Long-Term Capital Management], which has invested in natural gas futures, will go bankrupt, and the US stock market will fall. If we see a signal, let’s bet on a short position in US stock market futures options. The option multiple is 30x, and the capital to be invested is $1 billion, including the $500 million we’ll bring in from Korea.”

At my direction, the board members diligently started brainstorming and offering their opinions.

“Understood, Johnny. We’ll keep an eye on the movements of the Wall Street investment banks and seize the timing. Johnny, I’d like you to also use the family’s network to understand the situation in Russia.”

“Until then, we’ll roll the surplus funds in a short position in the oil market. At the current trend, even if we sell futures on a monthly basis and buy and repay the physical goods on the commitment date, there will still be a profit left.”

“We’ll also consider betting on a strong yen. If we watch the investment banks’ movements and invest as much as the capital and option multiple we’ll bet on the US stock market, it will be appropriate.”

The managers presented their respective countermeasures, but one of them had to be rejected.

“What about the Russian ruble? It’s the place that will be hit the hardest, so it would be good to short it.”

“Absolutely not. Considering HaeDong Group’s future business in Russia, it’s absolutely not allowed.”

HaeDong Group acquired HaeGo Energy during the sale of HaeGo, holding about a quarter of the shares in the Irkutsk gas field in Russia. Considering future investments in the Sakhalin oil and gas fields and the Yamal Peninsula gas field, there was no point in upsetting Russia.

“I’m sorry, Johnny. I made a mistake.”

The director, who had looked at me with resentment for rejecting him so abruptly, lowered his head.

“You can make mistakes. Now that everyone has gathered their opinions, let’s check the information from both sides and bet at the decisive moment. Let Triumph know and cooperate.”

‘If it’s Henry, he’ll let Isaac know too.’

A person as warm to his allies as Henry would not neglect the son of his deceased best friend. Expecting the news to reach Isaac Rockefeller of Chase Manhattan, I ordered a hedging strategy in preparation for the US stock market crash and added another order to the directors.

“Arrange a meeting with the Intel engineers. CPU and RAM-related engineers.”

“What’s the reason?”

“It’s because of the situation in Korea. We need to meet as soon as possible, so start right now.”

Even if the maternal family’s attachment to the semiconductor business is great, the opinions of Intel engineers can never be ignored. If we can get the maternal family to withdraw from the semiconductor business, it will be a great benefit to us.

***

A few days later.

Having heard the news that a meeting had been arranged, we arrived in Hillsboro, Oregon, where Intel’s research lab was located.

At a quiet cafe in the suburbs, we drank coffee with the Intel engineers we had scouted in advance and listened to stories about CPUs and RAM.

“So… you’re saying that Intel pushing RDRAM [Rambus Dynamic Random Access Memory] is all because of the executives’ greed?”

The engineers nodded vigorously at Seon Hae-cheol’s question, who had a dumbfounded expression.

“That’s right. RDRAM may seem to have good performance on paper, but it doesn’t perform properly unless an even number of RAM of the same specification is installed. Also, the heat generation problem is more severe than DDR RAM [Double Data Rate Random Access Memory], and the connection stability with the CPU is also lower…”

The engineers, who were candidly informing us of the technical flaws of RDRAM and its unreasonably high price compared to DDR RAM, were already raising their voices.

“Everyone’s out of their minds! It’s like they’re so crazy about money that they’re trying to ruin the company! What is this!”

“The company and the executives have all bought Rambus stock, so they don’t even listen to our opinions! Damn it!”

I could only smile bitterly at the reddened faces of the engineers who were denouncing the executives who ignored the technical problems and were crazy about money.

‘I knew it.’

RDRAM.

It was a memory semiconductor patented by Rambus, a company notorious for being a patent troll, and it was doing well now due to its performance on paper and the support of Intel and Intel executives who owned a large amount of Rambus stock.

Of course.

The fatal flaws of RDRAM that the engineers in front of us told us about were never fixed, so Intel also withdrew its support, resulting in the famous ‘Rambus Incident’.

“Thank you for letting us know. We’ll give you a generous reward.”

After finishing the recording and collecting the data, we left the cafe and sighed.

“Crazy bastards, even if they like money, how can executives of a manufacturing company push such garbage…”

Seon Hae-cheol, who was spitting out harsh curses, shook his head.

It was pathetic that a manufacturing company was denying its foundation and chasing money, but how many companies were like that? Compared to GE and GM, which would collapse in about 10 years, Intel was mild.

Park Tae-jin, who was also making a pathetic expression no less than Seon Hae-cheol, opened his mouth.

“Still, it’s fortunate that we have a card to persuade the director’s maternal family and gain an advantage in the automobile Big Deal with TaeHyun Group.”

“That’s how we should see it. We’ve gained all the results we can get, so we should go back to Korea.”

We had finished all our business in the United States. Now, all that was left was to return.

***

Going back a little bit.

While the executives of HaeDong Group were busy in Samcheong-dong discussing what and how to take from Daeju Group, Jang Ho-geon could not hide his frustration in the conference room of the Shinseong Group’s main building.

“It’s absurd. To miss it by a hair’s breadth…”

At Jang Ho-geon’s muttering, the executives, including Lee Soo-han, could not raise their heads. Hadn’t Daeju Group collapsed not long after Shinseong Motors was sold?

With a large chaebol like Daeju Group collapsing, the injection of public funds was inevitable. Naturally, public funds would also go into Daeju Motors, and the possibility of recovery was high.

However, Shinseong Group had to watch with their fingers in their mouths.

At least if Shinseong Motors hadn’t been sold, they could have acquired the domestic factories of Daeju Motors, which would be revived with public funds, and kept the flame alive… It was something that Jang Ho-geon and the executives would bitterly regret.

Nevertheless, Jang Ho-geon had no intention of giving up the Daeju Group feast itself. HaeDong Group and TaeHyun Group could only eat the top-quality menu of automobiles, but wouldn’t the magic seasoning of ‘public funds’ be sprinkled on all the other decent menus? Very generously!

“Are there any items worth targeting on our side?”

“Daeju Electronics’ home appliance business and Daeju Telecom are worth targeting.”

“TaeHyun Group will also be aiming for them?”

Even as Jang Ho-geon narrowed his eyes and asked, Jang Yong-jae, who had offered his opinion first, did not hide his confidence.

“I heard while eating with the president of a TaeHyun Electronics subcontractor that TaeHyun Group will be aiming for GK Semiconductor. They said that even if they eat something else, it’s smaller than semiconductors, so they won’t even look at it.”

Jang Yong-jae, who had become an executive director of Shinseong Electronics, was working day and night to make up for his mistake in the automobile business. Knowing his son’s efforts, Jang Ho-geon relaxed his expression and even slightly raised the corners of his mouth.

“Typical of TaeHyun. They won’t even look at the small stuff…”

“Yes, Chairman. Heavy Industries is tempting, but compared to home appliances and telecommunications, it’s sensitive to the economic cycle. Vice Chairman Jang Ho-min is holding Heavy Industries, so the public’s view won’t be favorable either.”

Jang Ho-geon, who was trailing off, was sympathizing with his son’s analysis.

In terms of value-added per unit weight, heavy industries are so low that they are not even worth comparing to the electrical and electronics industries.

Jang Ho-min, who was in charge of heavy industries, and he couldn’t separate the affiliates, so they were using Shinseong’s signboard together. If he acquired Daeju Heavy Industries, the finger-pointing that it was a messy family would pour out, not to mention the controversy over monopolies. Jang Ho-geon could not bear that terrible ridicule and humiliation.

Jang Ho-geon, who sighed lightly, slammed the desk.

“Proceed as Executive Director Jang suggests. Make sure to bring Daeju Electronics’ home appliance business and Daeju Telecom.”

Even if they can’t eat the top-quality menu, they run like hyenas to take profits if it’s edible.

This was the survival method of Jang Ho-geon, Shinseong Group, and Korean chaebols.

***

After the meeting, Jang Ho-geon moved to his office with Lee Soo-han and Jang Yong-jae. Jang Ho-geon, who was sitting on the sofa, drank the tea that his secretary had brought and said to Jang Yong-jae.

“You’ve worked hard, Yong-jae. Keep doing what you’re doing today.”

Jang Yong-jae’s expression, which had been tense, melted away at his father’s praise.

His father had made the decision, but wasn’t it because of the Busan factory construction that he had proposed that they had to withdraw from the automobile business? It seemed that his efforts to prepare for the Big Deal while eating and sleeping with the executives and employees in the office, with the determination to make up for his mistake, were being recognized.

“Thank you, Chairman.”

“I’m speaking as a father, not as a chairman. Your father knows that you’ve worked hard. Executive Director Lee and the executives here praised you for working hard, haha.”

Even at Jang Ho-geon’s hearty laughter, Jang Yong-jae couldn’t laugh. Lee Soo-han, who had always been strict, had praised him?

“Executive Director?”

“I know you’re working hard, Executive Director Jang. I hope you’ll continue to do well as the chairman says in the future.”

It felt like all the grievances Jang Yong-jae had suffered so far were being washed away. How much had he been underestimated because of his half-sister and her husband? Jang Yong-jae, who was trying to hold back his tears, replied with reddened eyes.

“Yes, Executive Director.”

Jang Ho-geon, who was nodding with a pleased expression, opened his mouth.

“We’ve decided what to take… the problem is the other groups.”

Lee Soo-han knew well which of those other groups was most disturbing Jang Ho-geon.

“Looking at the financial power alone, it’s likely that HaeDong Group will lead the Big Deal.”

“Executive Director is right. Daeju Metal is likely to form a consortium with GK Group, and TaeHyun Motors will divide and eat the domestic factories of Daeju Motors. Daeju Heavy Industries is likely to be acquired by HaeDong Heavy Industries after being acquired by Standard Capital.”

Jang Yong-jae also hated himself for offering a pessimistic opinion, but he also knew well that reality had to be grasped coldly. If it was HaeDong Group, which didn’t like to make noise, wouldn’t they try to eat the Daeju Group affiliates by making the most of their external expansion?

“All that’s left is Daeju Securities, Daeju Fire Insurance, and Daeju Card, but we can’t let HaeDong Group take even that, Father.”

“Executive Director Jang is right, Chairman. The heavy industry sector has a lot of jobs attached to it, so we can’t stop it from going over to HaeDong, but the impact of the financial sector isn’t that great, so it’s easy to portray it as a privilege.”

If Lee Seong-min knew, he would be dumbfounded and wouldn’t even laugh, but Jang Yong-jae and Lee Soo-han were wary of the excessive expansion of HaeDong Group’s financial sector, which Lee Seong-min was leading.

Isn’t it threatening enough that HaeDong Merchant Securities, which is increasing its branches across the country like a runaway horse, and HaeDong Securities, which is buying large amounts of blue-chip stocks without distinguishing between chaebols and banks, are threatening enough?

At the agreement of the two, Jang Ho-geon made a groaning sound.

“Then? Are you saying we should acquire it directly?”

It is basic for executives to bring out solutions to problems. At his father’s hidden order, Jang Yong-jae brought out a plan that he had been pondering for a long time.