The Conglomerate Family Became A Villain [EN]: Chapter 195

195. The Swelling World (4)

“That’s perfectly timed.”

Jeremy Spin frowned at his friend’s words.

“Perfectly timed for a friend who quit after fighting with his boss?”

“Join us.”

“At JP Morgan?”

The neatly dressed financier straightened his shoulders and said,

“Not JP Morgan.”

“What? Did you change jobs? Citibank, maybe?”

“No, Victoria Fund.”

The man talking to Jeremy Spin was none other than John Peer.

“Victoria Fund?”

“It’s a subsidiary of Victoria Corporation. It’s been in the news a few times, hasn’t it?”

Jeremy Spin frowned and said,

“You were treated well at JP Morgan, why make such a choice? Did you fight with your boss like I did?”

John Peer shook his head.

“How could I? I’m not as stubborn as you.”

“John.”

“It’s true. I left without a fight. Mr. Arnault even tried to hold me back.”

Jeremy Spin asked, half in doubt,

“What on earth made you join Victoria Fund? Was it the salary?”

He thought it might be possible if he had been scouted with a huge salary.

“The salary increased a lot too. But the most important thing was that they accepted my vision.”

Jeremy Spin frowned.

“Your vision?”

John Peer nodded and replied,

“Charlie is an enlightened CEO.”

“Charlie, as in Charlie Jung?”

“That’s right.”

Jeremy Spin was in charge of Morgan Futures, so he knew Victoria Corporation’s CEO, Jung Hyun-woo, well.

“I never thought you’d go work under him. But what kind of vision did you present?”

“A complex investment business linking real estate, finance, and foreign exchange, I suppose?”

Jeremy Spin clicked his tongue at his friend’s words.

“Tsk, he’s trying something strange again.”

“Listen to me. It’s not a strange attempt.”

John Peer cleared his throat and talked about the business that Victoria Fund wanted to do.

Jeremy Spin quietly listened to him for five minutes. And as soon as he finished speaking, he gave his opinion.

“It all sounds good, but it’s too rosy.”

“Are you saying it lacks realism?”

Jeremy Spin nodded and replied,

“First of all, there won’t be enough time. There’s too much to do. This is just my guess, but to do everything you said, you’d need at least a proper team.”

He meant that there was a limit to what John Peer could do alone.

Of course, he knew that too.

“What if you put together a team?”

“John.”

“I’m not kidding. If you come, I’ll give you the COO [Chief Operating Officer] position.”

John Peer wanted to recruit Jeremy Spin to Victoria Fund.

“Are you the CEO?”

John Peer smiled.

“Charlie has given me full authority.”

Jeremy Spin was still negative about Victoria Fund.

“He might be pretending to give you full authority right now because you’re alone. But if you start spending money like water, Charlie Jung’s mind will change.”

John Peer said in a soft voice,

“If I start spending money like water, you can stop me, can’t you?”

He thought Jeremy Spin was needed at Victoria Fund.

‘His practical skills from Morgan Stanley aren’t going anywhere.’

With someone like Jeremy Spin, the fund could continue to operate without being shaken even if he left his position.

“It sounds like you’re asking me to clean up the mess you’ve made.”

John Peer raised his voice slightly.

“I’ll give you twice the salary you were getting.”

Jeremy Spin unfolded his narrowed brow and smirked.

“Even if it’s not as much as you, I was getting a considerable salary.”

“Everyone knows that successful financiers on Wall Street have high salaries.”

“So, you really can give me twice the salary?”

Twice the salary.

This was a bit tempting.

“Jeremy, tell me. How much were you getting at Morgan Stanley?”

Jeremy Spin swirled the glass of whiskey and replied,

“$200,000.”

The average salary for an American worker was $25,000, so he was getting eight times that amount.

Based on South Korea in the 2020s, that meant he was receiving an annual salary of roughly 250 to 300 million won [approximately $200,000 to $240,000 USD based on current exchange rates].

“Okay, let’s make it $410,000.”

Jeremy Spin tilted his head.

“If it’s $400,000, why add the extra $10,000?”

“The $10,000 is my gift to your wife and children.”

Jeremy Spin gave a bitter smile at John Peer’s words.

“You really have become a CEO.”

John Peer cleared his throat and said,

“Put together a team.”

Jeremy Spin put down his glass and asked,

“How much time do I have?”

“A month? No, the sooner the better.”

Jeremy Spin smiled and said,

“Let’s make it a month.”

“Good, put together a team within a month.”

Thanks to the anger of Morgan Stanley’s big shot, Kyle Montana, Victoria Fund was able to acquire the first-rate navigator needed to sail the sea of investment.

* * *

Christmas Eve.

Jung Hyun-woo boarded a Boeing 747 bound for Japan with Sarah.

The seats were business class.

The reason for not using first class was because Sarah said that first class wasn’t necessary.

“Mr. Peer is joining us in Japan?”

This trip to Japan was not a date or a vacation, so John Peer was also scheduled to join.

“John is probably already in Tokyo.”

“Already?”

“He said we just need to arrive and sign.”

Sarah narrowed her eyes.

“Hmm, things are going too smoothly, aren’t they?”

She couldn’t help but worry about fraud or embezzlement.

“Knowing that we’re connected to the CIA [Central Intelligence Agency], they won’t do anything foolish.”

At this time, the power of the CIA was unavoidable unless one fled to the communist bloc.

“Even if it’s not fraud, are we acquiring a failing company or something?”

Management mistakes could not be punished by law.

“I don’t think so.”

“Can you be sure?”

“JP Morgan isn’t a place where clumsy people can survive.”

He was saying that he trusted JP Morgan’s judgment, not his own.

“It wouldn’t be bad to have a meeting with Nintendo while we’re on this business trip to Japan.”

“I thought about that too, but I stopped because it seemed like things would get too big.”

Jung Hyun-woo wasn’t just the richest man in South Korea. He was one of the top ten richest men in all of Asia.

“Are you considering the Christmas holidays of Nintendo employees?”

Jung Hyun-woo shook his head.

“No. They go to work on Christmas Day in Japan.”

Sarah’s eyes widened as if she hadn’t known.

“They go to work on Christmas Day?”

It was something she couldn’t understand.

“There aren’t many Christians in Japan.”

“Even so…….”

The countries Sarah had visited so far all took Christmas off.

“Don’t tell me Charlie’s home country doesn’t take Christmas off either?”

“No. We do. There are many Christians.”

Sarah nodded and responded to Jung Hyun-woo’s words.

“Charlie’s country is close to Japan but different.”

“It’s different in many ways.”

Jung Hyun-woo began to explain the differences between Japan and South Korea to Sarah.

And eight hours later.

They were still flying in the sky.

“Haaah.”

Sarah stretched and yawned widely. She was able to do this because everyone around her was asleep.

‘We’ve been flying for eight hours and haven’t even reached the halfway point?’

The flight time from Boston to Tokyo was a whopping 18 hours.

She thought it would be better to land and rest once in the middle.

‘Anyway, Charlie sleeps well.’

Being able to fall into a deep sleep on a shaking plane meant that the day before the flight had been that difficult.

‘It must be harder for him than for me.’

Sarah had never seen anyone work as hard as Jung Hyun-woo.

‘Why does Charlie work so hard?’

It wasn’t for money.

He could retire right now and live a luxurious life until the day he died.

‘Maybe Charlie wants to show the world his talents.’

Jung Hyun-woo’s talents were shining in many ways.

First, in games.

Then, in investment.

And then, in network systems.

‘Will Charlie’s light ever fade?’

It might someday. But not right now.

Sarah wanted to watch his talent and the future he would draw from the side.

* * *

December 25, 1985, Tokyo.

After a long flight of 18 hours and 30 minutes, Jung Hyun-woo and Sarah were able to arrive in Tokyo.

“The flight was too long, wasn’t it?”

Sarah sighed deeply and replied,

“It felt like sleeping without waking up.”

The air in Tokyo wasn’t exactly clean, but it was much better than the air inside the plane.

She spread her arms wide and took a deep breath.

“Ha, I feel alive now.”

While Sarah was taking a long sigh, Jung Hyun-woo looked around.

“Hmm, John said he’d come out, but I don’t see him.”

He tilted his head when Sarah pointed forward and raised her voice.

“There!”

What she found was a woman holding a sign that said Victoria Corporation.

“Ah, someone else came to pick us up.”

Jung Hyun-woo and Sarah pulled their carriers and approached the woman with the sign.

“Hello?”

The two used English, and the woman with the sign also used English.

However, her pronunciation was not as fluent as Jung Hyun-woo’s.

“Hello. Are you Mr. Jung and Miss Hilton?”

Jung Hyun-woo and Sarah nodded at the same time.

“Yes, we are.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

The woman smiled brightly and introduced herself.

“I’m Kato Hitori.”

Kato Hitori looked to be in her mid-30s. In other words, she was a woman who was more than ten years older than both Jung Hyun-woo and Sarah.

“Did John ask you to come?”

“I was hired by Mr. Peer.”

Jung Hyun-woo paused at her answer.

“Hired by John?”

“I belong to Victoria Fund.”

Kato Hitori’s answer was close to a monosyllable [a word consisting of one syllable].

“Ah, you mean you’re an employee of the Japanese branch.”

“I will guide you.”

The Japanese sedan prepared by Kato Hitori was a Crown [a popular model of Toyota car]. Inside the Crown, there was a car phone called a carphone and even a mini-refrigerator.

Sarah whistled briefly when she saw it.

“Wow, luxurious options.”

Jung Hyun-woo couldn’t help but tilt his head when he saw the mini-refrigerator.

“Options that are only available in limousines are in regular sedans.”

Kato Hitori sat in the passenger seat, and there was a separate driver.

“We will depart.”

With her departure signal, the Crown left the airport.

“Charlie, look out the window.”

At Sarah’s words, Jung Hyun-woo turned his gaze out the window.

‘There’s nothing special.’

The gateway to Tokyo in 1985 had long since changed from Haneda Airport to Narita Airport.

Narita Airport was far from the city of Tokyo, so there wasn’t really any scenery that caught his eye.

“Huh?”

It was when Jung Hyun-woo was tilting his head.

“There’s a plane flying that’s not a Boeing.”

Jung Hyun-woo realized that what she was pointing at was not the scenery but the plane.

“Ah, that plane is…….”

He widened his eyes when he saw the unexpected plane.

“Do you know, Charlie?”

“Yes, I know.”

“It’s not an American plane, is it?”

In 1985, the world’s civil aviation market was dominated by several American airlines.

However, there was a company that challenged that oligopoly [a state of limited competition, in which a market is shared by a small number of producers or sellers]. The name of that company was Airbus.

Airbus was a company founded in 1969 by the geniuses of European aviation engineering who joined forces.

However, even though 15 years had passed since the company was founded, Airbus was almost unknown except in the European market.

“It’s an Airbus.”

“Airbus?”

“I saw it in a magazine. They said it was a company founded by Europeans who joined forces. Several airlines are already operating that aircraft in Europe.”

Sarah nodded and said,

“Ah, it’s a plane made in Europe. I thought it was a plane made in Japan.”

It was now a time when Japanese products were dominating the world. It was not unreasonable for her to mistake Airbus for a new Japanese plane.

“The United States will be using it a lot soon too.”

Sarah tilted her head and asked,

“Is it that good of a plane?”

“Well, they say it has better fuel efficiency than American planes.”

For airlines, aircraft fuel efficiency was a very important consideration.

“Better fuel efficiency means less fuel costs, so airlines will like it.”

“Should we invest in Airbus this time?”

“Don’t we not have the capacity to do that right now?”

Jung Hyun-woo nodded and agreed with her words.

“I guess not. Thinking about it, that’s right.”

Sarah said, looking at the receding Airbus A300.

“To think you even know the name of that plane. Charlie really knows a lot.”

Jung Hyun-woo responded to her words as if it wasn’t a big deal.

“I’m reading magazines on the plane every time I go on a business trip. It’s not difficult to know the aircraft type.”

Sarah turned her gaze to him and asked,

“You didn’t read any magazines on this flight, did you?”

Jung Hyun-woo smiled and replied,

“Because Sarah was with me.”

Sarah stuck her tongue out slightly at his words.

“Pfft, you were just sleeping.”

Jung Hyun-woo scratched his head at her words.

“That’s……. I couldn’t help it because I was tired.”

While the two were talking, Kato Hitori remained silent. She didn’t seem to be the talkative type.

Soon, the Crown they were riding in drove for a while and entered downtown Tokyo.

Downtown Tokyo at sunset.

Sarah couldn’t help but raise her voice.

“Wow! It’s gorgeous.”

Tokyo, which had entered the bubble [an economic bubble characterized by rapid asset inflation], was gorgeous itself.

“It’s not just gorgeous. There’s vitality in the streets.”

Sarah nodded and agreed with his words.

“There aren’t many places in the United States where neon signs are this flashy.”

The only place in the United States that could be compared to the neon signs of Tokyo in 1985 was New York.

“Because it’s the capital of that great Japan.”

Sarah couldn’t take her eyes off the scenery of Tokyo that she could see out the window.

‘Soon, people will say that selling Tokyo can buy America.’

With the Plaza Accord [an agreement signed in 1985 by the governments of France, West Germany, Japan, the United States, and the United Kingdom to depreciate the U.S. dollar in relation to the Japanese yen and German Deutsche Mark], Japan’s bubble began to swell.

Jung Hyun-woo knew that they were at the beginning of that bubble.

‘Soon, the Japanese economy will swell to an extent that Americans cannot imagine.’

IBM is no longer the world’s number one company in terms of total market capitalization, and more than 30 of the world’s top 50 companies are Japanese companies.

He knew that time.

‘It’s not a time I’ve experienced directly, but I’ve heard the stories endlessly.’

Betting on the bubble.

This was his investment principle.