Still, I Will Live As The Son-In-Law Of A Conglomerate [EN]: Chapter 192

192. 54th. Preparing for the Post-Century Era – The U.S. (2)

After concluding the negotiations with Jobs, I called Sun Hae-cheol and Park Tae-jin, who were resting at the hotel, to sign the investment contract. Back at the hotel, I shared a beer with them.

“Ah! To think I’d live to see the day Jobs returns to Apple.”

“He returned because it was worth returning, Uncle.”

Park Tae-jin smiled at Sun Hae-cheol, then cautiously asked me,

“By the way, including semiconductors in the deal, are you considering Taehyun Electronics?”

‘My brother’s intuition has become quite sharp. He figured out my thoughts.’

Pleased with Park Tae-jin’s growth, I smiled and nodded.

“Yes. I issued promissory notes [a written promise to pay a specific sum of money on demand or at a definite date] to acquire GK Semiconductor and threw them at GK Electronics. All 2 trillion won [approximately $1.5 billion USD].”

“You mean they’ll fall into a liquidity crunch [a shortage of cash or readily available assets]. If the IT bubble bursts, semiconductor sales will decrease.”

As Park Tae-jin said, if the IT bubble bursts, numerous IT companies will go bankrupt, and the orders for memory semiconductors to be installed in the data centers they are trying to build will also decrease significantly.

In other words, the collapse of the IT bubble, along with Intel’s abandonment of RDRAM [a type of dynamic random-access memory] compatibility, will trigger a semiconductor chicken game [a situation where multiple companies compete aggressively, even if it means incurring losses, to try to eliminate competitors].

“So, Taehyun Electronics will collapse. We need to make as much capital as possible in the U.S. and Japan until then.”

I took a sip of beer and said to them,

“The victor of the end of the century will be me, and only my people.”

Right now, taking care of myself and my people is all I need to do. Sun Hae-cheol chuckled at my cold smile.

“Being with you, I’d make money even in the apocalypse, haha.”

“Isn’t that a bit impious [lacking reverence for God or sacred things] for someone who had their marriage blessed by the Cardinal of New York? Hehe.”

Park Tae-jin joked with Sun Hae-cheol, but I was no exception.

It’s harder for a rich man to enter heaven than for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle [a biblical reference to the difficulty wealthy people face in achieving salvation]. Since I was born a chaebol [a South Korean family-owned conglomerate], I’m doomed to not go to heaven, so I’ll live this life to the fullest.

***

The next day.

Despite emptying six cans of beer and three bottles of liquor, the three of us woke up early and checked out. After checking out, we went to 232 Santa Margarita Avenue in Menlo Park.

“Is this it? The place Jerry and David told you about?”

“Yes.”

The place was very familiar to me.

‘I’ve been here before. The cradle of Google.’

In my previous life, as a dog of Shinseong Group [a self-deprecating term for someone who is completely loyal and subservient to a large corporation], I stayed in California to oversee the lawsuit against Apple, and I looked for Google’s starting point to get some fresh air. I wanted to gain some energy from the cradle of Google, which grew by feeding on the dreams of two young men.

That memory, thanks to yesterday’s meeting with Jerry Yang and David Filo, could be easily used.

We moved our feet towards the garage.

Inside the garage, there were several desks and computers, and the drinks, beer cans, pizza boxes, and hot dog wrappers that are inseparable from America’s poor venture entrepreneurs were scattered messily.

“Wow, I don’t even know where to start cleaning this up. Look at the flies swarming around that pizza box.”

“I’ve heard that American venture entrepreneurs start in garages, but I didn’t know it would be this bad.”

Unlike Sun Hae-cheol, who exclaimed and shook his head, and Park Tae-jin, who looked around the garage with pity, I couldn’t help but smile with satisfaction.

‘This is what real entrepreneurship is, hehe.’

Yahoo in this life started very comfortably after meeting me, but Google went through a dark tunnel for several months without a single ray of light.

Now I wanted to be that ray of light. Google, and the fathers of Google, Sergey Brin and Larry Page, weren’t they people who deserved to be bathed in my ray of light without reservation?

“Hello?”

I put aside my brief reverie and called out to the two, but there was no sign of anyone. The three of us leaned against the wall or squatted down, waiting for them to come in our own ways.

How long had it been? Two young white men walked into the garage carrying large paper bags and pizza boxes. The two men’s eyes widened when they saw us.

“Who, who are you?”

“This is private property! If you don’t leave immediately, I’ll report you for trespassing… !”

Looking at the two young men who were on high alert, I raised both hands and waved them up and down.

“Whoa, whoa, calm down and let’s talk. What about us looks like thieves? Haha.”

At my jesting and laughing appearance, the two men’s sharp gazes softened a little.

“Then, why are you here?”

“Um, let’s just say we’re angels here to give you wings?”

“Angels here to give us wings?”

“I know we don’t look like angels, being dark men and all, but we’re angels here to give you wings, haha.”

I even threw in a clumsy joke to lighten the mood, then handed each of the two men a business card I held in each hand.

“Standard… Capital?”

“John Davidson… Lee?”

Sergey Brin and Larry Page, who were looking at the business cards, quickly looked up at me.

“Yeah. That’s my company name and my English name.”

“Are you, really Standard Capital is your company?”

“Don’t tell me… you came all the way here to invest?”

I smiled at Sergey Brin, who stuttered, and Larry Page, who asked cautiously.

“Of course. Uncle, Brother, I’ll talk to these two for a bit.”

“Okay. Friends, if you listen to our Johnny, you’ll hit the jackpot even in your sleep, haha.”

“You better not make a choice you’ll regret, haha.”

Sun Hae-cheol and Park Tae-jin, who were next to me, gave advice, not advice, to Sergey and Larry, who had blank expressions, and then left the scene. Shall we begin?

***

I went into the garage and sat on the desk, facing Sergey and Larry.

“I met Jerry of Yahoo and heard the reason why he rejected the Google acquisition offer. After hearing that reason, I became interested and came here.”

As I told them the story I heard from Jerry Yang, Sergey Brin and Larry Page looked dumbfounded.

“He rejected the acquisition because the search works too well?”

“Yahoo’s base is a search engine, right? But how… .”

I smiled bitterly at the two men who couldn’t believe it.

“Yahoo is now an advertising company. An advertising company that lives off banner ads. So, the longer people stay connected, the higher the revenue.”

“Still… the basics are search engines.”

Following Larry’s answer, who hesitated for a moment, Sergey also nodded.

“Larry is right, Johnny. People flock to search engines when the search works well, right?”

Looking at Larry and Sergey talking, it was like seeing Jerry and David when I first met them. They looked like this back then… .

Leaving the bitterness behind, I told these two budding entrepreneurs the reality.

“Even if they received the voting rights, Jerry and David are just founders. The two of them have lost their original intentions, but the management is done by worn-out office workers, so it can’t be helped. There are also many people to feed.”

Now, Yahoo is not a company where Jerry and David were bickering, but a huge company with more than 10,000 employees. It is inevitable to pursue more sales and more profits.

Above all.

It was a great help to me to get to this position by first approaching Jerry and David and becoming an early investor in Yahoo.

I couldn’t criticize them for helping me, so I wrapped it up appropriately, and Sergey and Larry nodded with gloomy expressions, as if they understood what I meant.

“Okay, shall we start investment negotiations? What should I invest in first?”

When I pushed away the gloomy atmosphere and brought up the main topic, one word popped out of Sergey and Larry’s mouths at the same time as if it were a conditioned reflex.

“Server!”

“I didn’t think the computers here would perform properly. Then… .”

I clapped my hands as I trailed off, looking at the two men who were nodding vigorously.

“Let’s start everything at once. From the server to the office, employees, luxury cars and houses for you to use… I’ll invest a total of $100 million. Deal?”

“$100 million?”

Sergey and Larry’s eyes widened at the number of $100 million. I smiled and said to them.

“It’s too early to be surprised? I’ll also recruit a manager who will work well with you by the year after next, and I’ll create a profit model that’s perfect for Google. How about it?”

The two biggest challenges for people who challenge venture businesses are management and profit models. It was nothing to me, though, to say that I would solve those two problems.

“What are you going to do? Are you going to take the investment?”

Unlike me, who had a proud expression, the two men’s reactions weren’t very enthusiastic. Why?

“Is there any problem…?”

“If you invest that much money, the stake… .”

Looking at Sergey Brin, who trailed off, and Larry Page, who nodded silently, I raised my hand with only my thumb folded.

“40 percent. I’ll only take 40 percent. I’ll also divide the voting rights in half and hand them all over to you.”

“40 percent?”

“Even the voting rights?”

Sergey shouted at me, who nodded.

“Are you out of your mind? You’re going to set up everything except the business item, and you’re only getting 40 percent?”

“If you give us the voting rights, you can’t do anything. So, how about getting 45 percent?”

Even Larry had a bewildered expression, but my conditions were just beginning.

“No, just give me 40 percent. Get funding from other places, too. Instead, open up additional investments so that our stake can be adjusted to 40 percent in any case.”

“You’re going to give us $100 million, so you have to do that much. What about you, Larry?”

Larry also nodded at Sergey’s question.

“Wouldn’t it be wrong to just do that? You’re going to invest $100 million in us and help us with management.”

“Okay. Is there anything else?”

‘These guys are completely smitten with my offer.’

I was drooling at the sight of Sergey and Larry looking at me as if they were in love, and I decided to close my eyes and crush my conscience.

“Later, if I acquire a semiconductor company, I’ll supply 50 percent of the volume you need at your company. I’ll give you a cheaper price than other places.”

“Um… .”

A groan came out of Sergey’s mouth at the condition I presented.

‘I guess this is difficult.’

I thought it was an unreasonable request, so when I was about to wave my hand, Sergey said to Larry.

“I’m in favor. Considering how big our company will be later, I think it would be good to have a good business partner.”

“Sergey is right. Johnny, you recognized us, so wouldn’t it be okay if it’s a semiconductor company you’re going to invest in? You’re going to sell it to us at a cheaper price, hehe.”

‘Heh, these are my partners.’

The two men didn’t know how big their company would become, but they seemed to have the conviction and confidence that the company would grow. I felt more comfortable seeing them taking care of their own interests appropriately.

“This is something we give and take, so tell me what you want from me.”

“Um… .”

After thinking for a while at Sergey’s suggestion, I decided to touch the forbidden area.

***

“Dividends.”

“Dividends?”

I expected Sergey and Larry’s reaction to be bad. Isn’t a dividend an act of distributing the company’s future investment resources to shareholders? Above all… .

‘Google used that much money for technology development, employee salaries, and welfare. Later, the weight shifted to mergers and acquisitions.’

I recalled the past and said to the two men with a calm expression.

“Later, when Google’s net profit exceeds $10 billion, then pay out only 10 percent. Think of it as giving tithes to investors.”

Non-dividend stocks are stocks that cause thirst for investors. What’s the point of the stock price going up all day? I have to have cash coming into my hands to make a living.

Sergey and Larry’s eyes widened again at my request. Why again?

“Johnny, do you believe our company will grow that much?”

“Tell me, Johnny! Is it real? $10 billion in net profit!”

I was burdened by the expectant gazes of Sergey and Larry, who were shouting. These guys were complete dumb and dumber.

‘Well, they don’t know how big their company will be now, so they can’t believe what I’m saying.’

These appearances of the two founders of Google, whose market capitalization will exceed $1 trillion, will be my own memories. I smiled and said to the two men.

“If you develop good services and I support management and funds, there’s nothing we can’t do. Isn’t that right?”

“You, you really believe we’ll succeed?”

“It’s a good search engine that was rejected by Yahoo, so wouldn’t it be stranger if it didn’t succeed? Hehe.”

I smiled and said to the two men.

“No changing your mind later. If you do strange accounting to avoid giving dividends, I won’t let you off the hook?”

“You bet! When should we sign the investment contract?”

As soon as the answer was over, Sergey and Larry ran at me, who was chuckling, put their arms around my shoulders, and spun me around. Today will be one of the most pleasant and enjoyable days.

***

The next morning.

We prepared the contract and went to see Sergey and Larry. I cautiously asked Sergey and Larry, who were looking at the contract.

“Are you sure you won’t regret it?”

“Of course!”

I felt sorry and grateful to see my two friends answering energetically. They’re nice guys compared to Steve Jobs or Bill Gates… .

“I like the way these two friends look. If our nephew is betting with these conditions, he has really high expectations, haha.”

“There will be no failure due to a bad business model, and there will be no failure due to lack of money. Johnny’s management sense and investment sense have never been wrong, haha.”

Sergey and Larry, who nodded at Sun Hae-cheol and Park Tae-jin’s encouragement, raised the documents and asked us.

“Can we send it to the school’s entrepreneurship support center? I want to show off and check it out.”

“Of course. The lawyers there will probably say it’s an absurd contract, haha.”

At Sun Hae-cheol’s cool acceptance, I and Park Tae-jin also nodded. The two quickly sent the documents by fax, and soon received a call.

While the two of them left the room for a while so that they could talk comfortably, Sergey and Larry came out of the garage.

“They say it’s the most absurd contract in the world? Haha.”

“They said they didn’t know Standard Capital would make such an investment, hehe.”

The two guys had a reason to smile. Isn’t it a contract for ordinary people to receive full support from Standard Capital, a large investment company on Wall Street, with just one search engine? It’s a contract that will be a huge cornucopia for me, my family, Haedong Group, and Standard.

‘If I think about Google in the future, I feel a little sorry… .’

It wasn’t just about me eating well and living well, so I decided to ignore my sorry feelings for the two men.