Still, I Will Live As The Son-In-Law Of A Conglomerate [EN]: Chapter 188

188. 53rd. An Alliance for the End of the Century (1)

After finishing my preparations for the business trip and leaving home, I stopped by the main branch of the Korea Hotel before heading to the airport. It was to see Jang Hayeon, who had arrived at the company earlier than me.

Seeing me arrive in front of her office, her secretary stood up from her seat.

“D, Director Lee?”

“I came to see CEO Jang before going on my business trip. Is she inside?”

“Yes. Please wait a moment.”

The secretary, after informing her that I had arrived via intercom, came to me and extended her hand.

“I’ll take your luggage.”

“No, thank you. Just tell me where to put it, and I’ll leave it there before going in.”

A *chaebol* [a large South Korean business conglomerate] is not someone who reigns like royalty, merely owning and managing a company. I smiled at the hesitant secretary, placed my luggage next to her desk, and entered the office.

“Honey?”

“Director Lee?”

Jang Hayeon and Jung Changho, who were sitting on the sofa and drinking tea, stood up from their seats. I gave them an awkward smile.

“I’m disturbing your work, haha.”

“Not at all. We just finished work and were taking a break. I’ll be going now, so have a good time, heh heh.”

With a hearty laugh, Jung Changho left the office. In the room with the door closed, I kissed Jang Hayeon on the forehead and smiled.

“Weren’t you going straight to the airport?”

“I had some time left, so I came to see my darling. This business trip is a long one, after all.”

I felt sorry for Jang Hayeon, but I had to stay in New York for about three or four months this time. I had already set the future business direction of the Haedong Group, and having completed the major mergers and acquisitions, I could leave the details to the group’s elders.

“You didn’t just come to see me, did you?”

“Caught me? I also came to see our Dong-dong, hehe.”

‘Dong-dong’ was the nickname for our child in my wife’s womb. Smiling, I bent my knees slightly and looked at Jang Hayeon’s belly, saying,

“Dong-dong, don’t make your mom suffer while Dad is in America, okay?”

Even as I spoke, the corners of my mouth wouldn’t go down. I was overjoyed and grateful beyond words to have a child I had wanted so much, only after meeting my love.

Seeing me stand up, Jang Hayeon smiled softly.

“You’re something else. Go quickly, your uncle and senior must be waiting.”

“Okay, honey. I love you.”

After a light kiss, I left the office. I need to work hard in America for our child who will be born soon.

***

After arriving in America, we took a day off and went to the Standard Capital headquarters.

After a brief greeting, we started analyzing environmental data for investing in put options on the U.S. stock market, while drinking Starbucks caffe lattes with the Siren logo.

“How are the Russian treasury bonds doing?”

I took the Starbucks cup with the Siren logo away from my lips and put it down, and the board members began to answer my question.

“Johnny was right. JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, Bear Stearns, and Lehman Brothers are all issuing negative reports on Russian treasury bonds.”

“According to information obtained from within S&P [Standard & Poor’s] and Moody’s [credit rating agencies], they are considering downgrading Russia’s credit rating. There hasn’t been an official announcement, but once it’s mentioned, it’s only a matter of time.”

“International oil prices are still not escaping the downward trend. There will be a brief rebound due to winter demand as winter approaches, but a long-term price rebound will be difficult. The finances of the Russian government, which relies on oil, will also become difficult.”

“The Dow Jones Industrial Average has also fallen nearly 100 points since the 3rd of this month. Based on other information, it seems to be a signal of a bear market.”

They were all pessimistic news, but the reports and opinions presented by the board members all reinforced the high probability of our put option betting succeeding.

‘We’ve gathered enough evidence. Then…’

After listening to all the reports, I decided to draw my sword.

“Let’s bet all $1 billion on the decline. Whether it’s Dow Jones 30, Nasdaq 100, S&P 500, or Nikkei 225, buy put options for each month from August to October equally. When the put option with the earliest expiration date is settled, immediately buy the next month’s option.”

Since a decline is expected, sell the August put options to earn money, buy the September put options with that money, settle the September put options to buy the October options, and then sell the October options.

If we reinvest in this scenario, the profit will easily exceed the option multiple of 30 times, so sitting on a pile of money will be easy.

After organizing the investment guidelines, I went to meet Henry with Claire. After exchanging greetings, we followed Henry to the reception room.

“Thanks to you, I got a good deal in Korea, Johnny. Thank you for the gift.”

“It’s nothing, Henry. Compared to the gift I received, it’s a small deal, haha.”

Henry included me in the acquisition of the bank in Korea, and I brought Henry into the acquisition of Daeju Heavy Industries. As we talked about the gifts we gave each other, I took a sip of black tea.

“I checked the Wall Street trends as soon as I arrived, and it seems like Russia’s bankruptcy is imminent. We have decided to start betting right away from today.”

After telling him the information from the meeting and the put option investment guidelines, Henry let out a light hum.

“Hmm… We have been quietly collecting and analyzing information, and Standard’s opinion was the same. If you bet $1 billion and I bet $1 billion, we will recover some of the stock price decline losses.”

“That’s right. It’s also about my family members preparing inheritance funds and the Haedong Group preparing business funds, hehe.”

In this put option investment, a total of $200 million in domestic personal funds from my family members, including me, and a total of $300 million in funds from Haedong Corporation, Haedong Merchant Banking, and Haedong Securities were invested. When this investment is over, my family will have enough inheritance funds, and the Haedong Group will have enough business funds.

Smiling, I drank my tea and carefully asked, watching Henry’s expression.

“Did you talk to Isaac Rockefeller?”

“About the Russian treasury bonds?”

“Yes.”

This time, Henry glanced at me and opened his mouth.

“He just told me not to trade with either JP Morgan or Goldman Sachs. He told me not to bow down to the big-nosed Morgan geezer’s bloodline or the mongrels who made a fortune with promissory notes, and he said he understood.”

JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs have a tight grip on the sale of Russian treasury bonds. Hearing Henry’s answer, I smiled.

“I see.”

“But Isaac wouldn’t invest in put options. You’re the only one who predicted Russia’s moratorium, and I’m the only one on Wall Street who trusts you and will follow you, so don’t worry.”

No one now would believe that Russia would default. Of course, the only people in the world who would bet that Russia would declare a moratorium and that the U.S. stock market would crash as a result would be Henry and me.

“I would like you to arrange a meeting with Isaac after this is over.”

Hearing my request, Henry smiled.

“Are you going to repay the debt you owed two years ago?”

“I’ll repay the loan later, but I have to repay them for deceiving us. Isn’t that right, Uncle?”

At my remark, Seon Haecheol grinned.

“Of course. A nephew completely deceived us, so we have to give and take once, right? Hehe.”

“I have to repay them too, Johnny. When I think about how intimidated I was back then, I wake up in the middle of the night, you know?”

“I want to see how Mr. Rockefeller will react when he finds out that the director is the owner of Standard, hehe.”

Not only Claire but also Park Taejin showed a strong desire to properly mess with Isaac Rockefeller. Henry laughed at us.

“Isaac, that friend, is going to get a real hit from you this time, hehe.”

“It’s only human nature to repay what you receive, hehe.”

I wondered how Isaac Rockefeller would look at me when we met three months later after this deal was over. I should call Grandpa first.

***

After meeting with Henry, I went to the Standard Capital headquarters every day. While checking the short selling status of the U.S. and Japanese stock markets, I also informed my grandfather of the news from the United States.

[The Wall Street guys are going to rip off Russian treasury bonds?]

“Yes, Grandpa. If the U.S. stock market crashes, the value of the put options that Standard has purchased will skyrocket. Henry and I have both bet $1 billion on this…”

After finishing the investment outlook report, I held my breath and waited for my grandfather’s answer. The answer I wanted.

After a moment of consideration, my grandfather’s voice was heard through the receiver.

[I’ll have to transfer most of the group shares I hold now. Tell the family members to find the investment funds they entrusted to Standard later.]

‘If you say one thing, he knows ten, hehe.’

If my family members and the Haedong Group earn tens of billions of dollars, the group’s stock price will increase, and the inheritance tax on the shares that my grandfather will pass on will also increase.

Not only that.

If the inheritance is carried out after the profit is confirmed, we will have to convert the money earned in the United States and Japan into Korean won and pay trillions of won in taxes.

In the process, the exchange rate will drop significantly. Small and large Korean companies that are barely recovering through exports will suffer huge exchange rate losses, and the Haedong Group will not be an exception.

I was concerned about this, but I couldn’t urge my grandfather to pass on the shares. I can’t say, ‘I’m succeeding the chairman, Grandpa,’ can I? I’m not a fallen prince from some game.

So, I trusted my grandfather’s rational judgment and tried to say it as indirectly as possible, but… I was grateful for my grandfather’s wise decision, who thought of the family and the group’s survival before his authority.

“Thank you, Grandpa.”

[What thanks? Even if we have to put on a show, we have to take care of what we need to take care of, right? Hehe.]

I could feel the relief in my grandfather’s laughter. He maintained his prestige with a cleaner succession than other groups, and he also took care of his practical interests by completing the management succession work at a much lower cost than later, didn’t he?

Even as our family’s Haedong Group succession work was progressing across the Pacific, the Russian financial market was rapidly collapsing.

Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan, which had sold more than $10 billion worth of Russian treasury bonds around the world, announced that they would not buy 100-dollar face value Russian treasury bonds for 50 dollars, which was lower than the previous 80 dollars, starting in August.

The aftermath of Wall Street cutting Russian treasury bonds in half could not be ignored. As anxiety about the Russian economy spread to the global financial world, money invested from abroad flowed out like a tide, and the Russian government announced special measures.

[As of today, August 17, Russia declares a moratorium for 90 days. In addition, the previous fixed exchange rate of 6.3 rubles per dollar will be allowed up to 9.5 rubles, a devaluation of 34 percent…]

The employees watching the CNN news on the large screen were speechless. Wasn’t this a signal that our put option betting had succeeded?

“Wow!”

The employees screamed like crazy people, scattering not only the documents piled on their desks but also the crumpled tissues from the trash cans they had tucked under their arms.

“Everyone is going crazy, hehe.”

I was in the conference room, slightly lowering the blinds to look outside and smiling, and Seon Haecheol whistled at me.

“New York and Tokyo are going to be turned upside down, hehe.”

“The rate of return will be even higher in Japan. We invested in yen through Standard’s Japanese subsidiary, so we’ll also get exchange rate gains, hehe.”

The Russian moratorium has a negative impact on the world economy.

Of course, the U.S. stock market cannot be free from it, and investors who prefer safe assets will move their assets to the alternative, the Japanese yen, so the value of the yen will inevitably rise.

Therefore.

It was a good thing for us, who had converted $500 million out of $1 billion into 70 billion yen and bet on the Japanese stock market crash. Aren’t we going to eat up to 30 times the profit stipulated in the option and the exchange rate difference?

I aimed for this and invested in Japan, but I nodded at Park Taejin’s words and asked Claire.

“How far will the yen-dollar exchange rate fall?”

“145 yen per dollar was a special situation caused by Wall Street speculators. Since the yen is treated as a safe asset, demand will pour in… I think it will recover to the 110 yen range?”

In fact, the yen-dollar exchange rate bottoms out at around 115 yen per dollar around October and rebounds. I nodded and opened my mouth.

“Let’s bury all the profits from Japan in the Japanese stock market index fund. The yen-dollar exchange rate may fall further.”

If the current crash stops in early October, the stock prices of stock markets around the world will rise like crazy, and the yen-dollar exchange rate will also fall, decorating the end of the century in a splendid way.

We will see the madness that will decorate the end of the century in a splendid way.

***

Some time later.

While Lee Seongmin was preparing to run towards the madness of the end of the century, earning huge amounts of money in the midst of the U.S. and Japanese stock market crashes, Henry was drinking black tea with a man in the reception room.

“I’m glad the damage was minimal, Isaac.”

“I was able to make up my mind thanks to your advice, Uncle. Thank you again, Uncle.”

If it hadn’t been for Henry’s advice, Isaac would have likely decided to invest in Russian treasury bonds.

Of course, by now, with Russia having declared a moratorium, they would all be scraps of paper, causing huge losses to Chase Manhattan. Isaac Rockefeller Jr. thanked Henry, but his body trembled at the terrible situation he had avoided.

Henry laughed at Isaac.

“Hehe, how can the head of the Rockefeller family tremble like that over such a thing on Wall Street, Isaac?”

“If this had gone wrong, I would have lost Chase Manhattan.”

Henry’s eyes widened at Isaac’s firm words. His friend’s son was almost robbed of Chase Manhattan Bank?

“Nonsense? Who dares to swallow Chase Manhattan?”

Henry, who shouted without realizing it at the unbelievable words, carefully asked, looking at Isaac’s face.

“It’s not your family, is it? You’ve been keeping a good watch since your father passed away, pretending to be that friend, haven’t you?”

Even though Henry asked with an unbelievable expression, Isaac sighed.

“You know the bloodline of the big-nosed Morgan geezer, don’t you? The Morgans are always trying to swallow our Chase Manhattan at any opportunity.”

“The Morgans?”

As the name ‘Morgan’ came out of Isaac’s mouth, Henry’s eyes narrowed.

The Morgan family, who stiffly raised their necks as the descendants of the ‘last Yankee financiers.’

Those who tried to drive the Royce family out of Wall Street by wielding all kinds of *teotse* [displaying territorial behavior or using one’s position to exert influence] were trying to steal the property of a friend’s family… The conflict between the Rockefeller family and the Morgan family had now become something that Henry could not ignore.