The Conglomerate Family Became A Villain [EN]: Chapter 169

Shock Wave (2)

June 1985.

Morgan Stanley offered its clients a stock ticker service called ‘Morgan Future.’

This Morgan Future was created with the help of Sean Luke and Louis Nolan, who had previously left JP Morgan.

However, the server crashed just 20 minutes after the service launched, highlighting the gap between them and Victoria Corporation.

“It took three hours to fix the server?”

Howard Robinson stood with his head bowed before Chairman Kyle Montana.

“The server couldn’t handle the data transfer volume, which was higher than expected.”

“Do you think that makes sense?”

“We plan to start the improvement work today.”

Chairman Kyle Montana frowned.

“If you start the improvement work today, does that mean the same problem could happen again tomorrow?”

Howard Robinson answered in a low voice, “It’s possible.”

Chairman Kyle Montana threw up his hands as if he couldn’t believe it.

“I invested a fortune because I was told we needed the best programmer, and this is all we get?”

Morgan Stanley had recruited a programmer from Microsoft with an astronomical salary.

“It might have been okay if we had tested it for about three months before launching.”

The Morgan Future’s launch schedule was moved up because of Citibank’s Citi Service.

Morgan Stanley executives and shareholders wanted to launch at least as fast as Citibank.

As a result, Morgan Future launched its service several months ahead of schedule, revealing numerous problems.

“Is it all my responsibility?”

Chairman Kyle Montana’s nickname was Big Head. [Referring to his controlling nature.]

It meant he was a dictator who perfectly controlled everything at Morgan Stanley.

“Ah, no.”

Howard Robinson hurriedly corrected himself, but Chairman Kyle Montana’s face was already distorted.

“Howard.”

“…….”

“You’re disappointing me for the first time in a long time.”

Howard Robinson sighed inwardly.

‘Hoo… is this the end of the line?’

He didn’t think Morgan Stanley’s technology could catch up with Victoria Corporation.

“I’m sorry.”

“Howard, pack your bags by tomorrow morning.”

It wasn’t a sudden dismissal.

Howard Robinson had already prepared his resignation the moment the server crashed.

‘If the system stops for hours during trading, someone has to take responsibility.’

He bowed to Chairman Kyle Montana.

“I will finish the arrangements today.”

As he was about to step back after his final greeting, Chairman Kyle Montana asked him.

“Who would you recommend as your successor?”

He was being asked to nominate a successor because he was leaving without time to hand over the work.

“It won’t matter who takes over.”

Howard Robinson turned away with a cold answer. Then, Chairman Kyle Montana raised his voice.

“Howard!”

Howard Robinson stopped walking when he heard Chairman Kyle Montana’s shout. He didn’t turn around and said to Chairman Kyle Montana.

“Mr. Montana, I’m not saying this because I’m angry. In the current situation, it won’t make a big difference who takes over. It’s not me who’s running this project; it’s Herald Kahn and Louis Nolan.”

He started walking again.

The next day.

Morgan Future stopped again, and the Morgan Stanley service center was overwhelmed with customer complaints.

“In this situation, all work will be paralyzed.”

“We need to postpone the service launch.”

“Other tasks are impossible to handle because of Morgan Future.”

Jeremy Spin filled Howard Robinson’s vacancy, but he also left the office due to the flood of complaints and protests.

“I can’t do this.”

He went to a quiet cafe.

“Coffee.”

He took a seat by the window and sighed deeply.

“Hoo…”

Someone recognized him and spoke to him.

“Jeremy, you look tired.”

Jeremy Spin turned his head.

“John!”

The person who called him was John Pierre of JP Morgan. John Pierre was Henri Arnault’s right-hand man and had been promoted to head of the JP Morgan fund business division last month.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Jeremy Spin raised his voice.

“Aren’t you supposed to be working?”

“What about you?”

Jeremy Spin sighed at John Pierre’s words.

“Haa… I’m screwed.”

“The overseas part should be fine, right?”

Until yesterday, Jeremy Spin was the head of Morgan Stanley’s overseas investment division.

“Howard quit, so…”

John Pierre cut him off.

“He didn’t quit; he was fired.”

“Yeah, Big Head fired him yesterday. So I took his place.”

Only then did John Pierre understand why Jeremy Spin was sighing so deeply.

“I heard you’re in charge of the newly launched Morgan Future.”

Jeremy Spin said, picking up the coffee that had just come out.

“Morgan Future, it’s still down.”

John Pierre’s eyes widened.

“The system is down, and you’re out here?”

“I’m thinking of resigning.”

“In one day?”

“It’s not something I planned, and I can’t do it.”

Jeremy Spin didn’t think he could do what Howard Robinson couldn’t.

“It’s not like I’m getting a big promotion for fixing this.”

John Pierre nodded as if he understood.

“It’s not originally your job anyway.”

“Do you have something frustrating like me?”

John Pierre shook his head from side to side.

“It’s not frustrating; I’m just stressed.”

“Stressed? You?”

John Pierre had been promoted twice in a year, so there were rumors among Yale University alumni that he was successful.

“Charlie Jung is quite picky.”

“That’s not a boss problem; that’s a client problem.”

“Of course, not as much as Big Head.”

“So what’s the specific problem?”

John Pierre sighed briefly and replied.

“Charlie Jung said he’s going to invest in Japan again.”

Overseas investment was Jeremy Spin’s specialty.

“Investing in Japan in this situation?”

There were rumors on Wall Street that the US and Japanese governments would make some kind of agreement.

“He said he’s going to put in another billion dollars.”

“A billion dollars?”

“Yeah. Shouldn’t we be taking out the money we already have?”

The Plaza Accord [A 1985 agreement to depreciate the U.S. dollar] didn’t happen overnight. Wall Street’s big players had already heard that the US and Japanese governments, as well as the German and French governments, were in big negotiations.

Accordingly, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley were gradually withdrawing funds from Japan.

“Did you try to persuade him?”

John Pierre shook his head.

“He won’t listen at all.”

“So that’s why you’re sighing like this. But what does it matter to you if the client loses money?”

Even in the worst-case scenario, this investment would end with Jung Hyun-woo going bankrupt.

In other words, JP Morgan could end this with just losing one VIP client.

“There’s a problem.”

“Hmm?”

“The money Charlie Jung is trying to invest isn’t his personal money; it’s Victoria Corporation’s money.”

Jung Hyun-woo wanted to invest the remaining funds in Japan after investing in various places.

“No, you’re investing Victoria Corporation’s money in Japan?”

Jeremy Spin thought, ‘Oh my god.’

‘That’s completely reckless.’

John Pierre thought the same.

“Investing in Japan now is a reckless investment. And… if Victoria Corporation’s stock price plummets, we’ll also suffer a big loss.”

Victoria Corporation’s current stock price is $18.2.

It was slightly down from its peak, but it was still quite high.

As of 1 p.m. today, JP Morgan held $3.64 billion worth of Victoria Corporation stock.

If Victoria Corporation’s stock price fell by just 10% due to Jung Hyun-woo’s bad investment, JP Morgan would lose nearly $400 million.

“Find a plane ticket right now.”

“A plane ticket?”

“It’s better to persuade him in person than to persuade him over the phone here, right?”

He was telling him to fly to Boston and persuade him in person.

“That far?”

“I would do that. Isn’t it a matter of hundreds of millions of dollars?”

John Pierre groaned at Jeremy Spin’s words.

“Ugh.”

If he could prevent hundreds of millions of dollars in losses, a business trip to Boston was nothing.

Two hours later.

John Pierre boarded a plane to Boston.

* * *

Jung Hyun-woo tilted his head when he saw John Pierre who had come to see him.

“Did you come all the way to Boston because of that phone call earlier?”

John Pierre bowed his head and replied.

“Mr. Jung, please reconsider.”

Jung Hyun-woo sighed deeply.

“Haa… Mr. Pierre, you’re stubborn.”

He thought John Pierre surpassed Henri Arnault in terms of persistence.

‘To fly all the way to Boston because of one phone call.’

Jung Hyun-woo thought it was just a phone call, but John Pierre thought it was a matter of hundreds of millions to billions of dollars.

“Mr. Jung, Japan is dangerous.”

Instead of waving his hand, Jung Hyun-woo listened intently.

“Tell me specifically why investing in Japan is dangerous. If it’s a reason I can accept, I’ll take the money out.”

John Pierre spread his hands and put conviction in his voice.

“The bubble in Japan is a fact that any Wall Street investor knows. If you deny this, you will never be able to make a profit.”

This reason alone could not persuade Jung Hyun-woo.

“Mr. Pierre, many investors suffered huge losses earlier this year because of that fact that everyone knows. Do you know that?”

Some Wall Street investors tried to short the Japanese stock market earlier this year, but they only suffered huge losses because the Japanese stock market rose.

“That’s because they went in too quickly.”

Jung Hyun-woo said in a cold voice.

“The market is more overheated than you think. Do you know this saying?”

‘Don’t underestimate the market’s overheating.’

This was the condition Peter Lynch had when Jung Hyun-woo shorted Warner Group and other game-related companies.

“I don’t think the bubble will burst when everyone is worried.”

John Pierre clenched his fist slightly at his words.

“Are you saying it’s not the timing to take out the money yet?”

Jung Hyun-woo nodded.

“That’s right.”

John Pierre asked him.

“Then when do you think is the timing to take out the money?”

Jung Hyun-woo smiled at his question.

“The answer to that question is worth billions of dollars.”

An answer worth billions of dollars.

This was by no means an exaggeration.

If you knew when the Japanese bubble would burst, you could make astronomical profits through short selling.

John Pierre frowned at Jung Hyun-woo’s answer.

‘Charlie Jung seems to think he knows the exact timing.’

He thought no one could know the exact timing.

“Mr. Jung, you admit that there is a bubble in Japan.”

Jung Hyun-woo calmly received his words.

“Mr. Pierre, don’t try to bluff me.”

John Pierre unfolded his clenched fist.

“We’ll take it out before that.”

He had no intention of waiting for the precarious timing like Jung Hyun-woo.

‘If you’re too greedy, you’ll ruin the game.’

John Pierre was a man who pursued stable profits.

Jung Hyun-woo also knew that his tendency was closer to stability.

“I understand JP Morgan’s intentions.”

He wanted to end today’s meeting with this. But John Pierre didn’t seem to think so.

“Mr. Jung.”

“Do you have anything else to say?”

“What if the bubble in Japan bursts sooner than Mr. Jung thinks?”

Jung Hyun-woo said, supporting his chin with his right hand.

“If that happens, I’ll give Mr. Pierre a bottle of Romanée-Conti.”

Romanée-Conti [A highly prized and expensive Burgundy wine] is France’s finest wine, and even in 1985, it cost thousands to tens of thousands of dollars depending on the year of production.

John Pierre said, getting up from his seat.

“Okay. I’ll look forward to the Romanée-Conti.”

He was convinced that Jung Hyun-woo would not be able to recover the money in time.

‘Only God knows the exact time.’

After he left the president’s office.

Sarah came in.

“What’s going on?”

It was unusual for a JP Morgan executive to visit Victoria Corporation.

Jung Hyun-woo shrugged his shoulders and replied.

“I guess I’m making them uneasy.”

“Charlie?”

“I decided to invest the remaining money in Japan.”

Sarah had agreed to the Japanese investment a few days ago.

“Um, Wall Street is saying that investing in Japan is 불안하다 [unstable/risky]. But they came all the way here because of that?”

“It seems like they’re not just 불안하다 [unstable/risky]; they’re very worried.”

Sarah sighed briefly.

“Hmm… I guess they don’t trust Charlie as much as I do.”

There was no one in the world who trusted Jung Hyun-woo as much as she did.

“It would be hard to trust as much as Sarah.”

“So, is that all you wanted to talk about?”

“Um, I made a bet.”

“A bet?”

“If I lose a lot of money, I’ll give you a bottle of Romanée-Conti…”

Sarah cut him off and asked.

“If Charlie wins?”

“Come to think of it, I didn’t talk about that.”

“Tsk, what kind of bet is that? You just chased John Pierre away without a reward.”

Jung Hyun-woo thought her sulky appearance was quite attractive.

“Sarah.”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you for believing in me.”

Sarah chuckled at his words.

“You say the same thing every time. If I don’t believe in Charlie, who will?”

Jung Hyun-woo chuckled as well.

“Sarah, would you like to go on vacation together this year?”

“Vacation? When?”

“In the summer.”

“Oh, Charlie’s going on summer vacation?”

Jung Hyun-woo had never been on summer vacation before.

“I feel like I can go this time.”

He sincerely thought he could go on summer vacation. But the flood of events did not allow him to take a vacation.