The Conglomerate Family Became A Villain [EN]: Chapter 36

36. The Villain of a Conglomerate Family – Las Vegas 01 –

– Las Vegas –

Wanna Group’s stock began to plummet again as soon as the new year began.

JP Morgan’s investment groups were also racking their brains over this.

“It’s falling even further from here.”

“The continuous drop is due to fund redemptions.”

“Don’t you think the Fed [Federal Reserve System, the central banking system of the United States] is the problem?”

“The Fed?”

“Even Wanna Group has fallen. They need to lower interest rates now.”

The third year of the Reagan administration.

Despite the campaign slogan ‘LET’S MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!’, the American stock market was experiencing ups and downs.

“There’s talk that the Fed will lower interest rates soon.”

“Then the stock price will recover.”

“But we’re probably not the only ones who know this.”

There were numerous investment banks in the United States. They probably knew the same information as JP Morgan.

“We need a weapon to attract investors.”

JP Morgan’s profits came from investors’ money, not their own.

A middle-aged man with a receding hairline twirled a fountain pen and said,

“How about using computers?”

The investment group executives frowned at his words.

“Are you suggesting we trade with a computer program?”

Program trading was already being done at JP Morgan.

“No. That’s not what I mean.”

“If not program trading, how else would we use computers?”

The middle-aged man stopped twirling the fountain pen.

“Recently, an IT company affiliated with MIT [Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a prestigious university known for its science and technology programs] came to us.”

Everyone’s attention shifted at the mention of MIT. In American society, the trust in MIT was immense.

“A company founded by MIT graduates?”

“One of the executives is from MIT, I heard.”

The executives nodded and asked,

“Oh, really?”

“What did they say?”

“Was it good news?”

The middle-aged man twirling the fountain pen replied,

“They suggested providing a program that allows people to check the stock market in real-time from home.”

The executives paused at his words.

“Check the stock market in real-time?”

“But isn’t that already being done on cable TV?”

“That’s right. I don’t think it’s a big deal.”

The middle-aged man twirling the fountain pen shook his head slightly.

“Cable TV only displays stocks in order by industry. What they proposed to us is a program that allows you to check the stocks you want right away, anytime.”

His answer was a direct copy of Sarah’s answer. He was Lewis Nolan, the main manager at JP Morgan who had interviewed Sarah.

The executives narrowed their brows slightly at his words.

“Isn’t that the same as our brokerage firm’s program?”

Brokerage firms connected to Wall Street already had similar online trading systems.

“The system we have takes up an entire section of the branch. But the service they’re proposing can be done at home with just a small modem. Of course, its functions won’t be as diverse as the system we use.”

Providing a significantly nerfed [reduced in power or effectiveness] version of the system used at each branch.

“Will that be effective?”

Lewis Nolan nodded.

“Of course. The home PC market has grown explosively over the past few years. Last year alone, over 10 million PCs were shipped. And most of the families who bought them are middle-class people interested in the stock market.”

Targeting tens of millions of affluent middle-class people.

This was originally what Sarah had said.

He thought her words were persuasive, so he used them as they were.

“I didn’t realize the PC market had grown that much.”

“Hmm, tens of millions of households is definitely a significant number.”

An executive next to Lewis Nolan, who was in charge of IT company investments, took his side.

“The IT industry is growing by leaps and bounds every day. The Wanna Group’s recent growth of over five times is also related to the spread of home IT devices. Although it’s been sluggish recently, I think this is just growing pains from the past few years of overgrowth.”

Neil Hamilton, the head of JP Morgan Investment Bank, who had been silent until now, asked Lewis Nolan,

“So, how much do they need?”

The money needed for the service.

He ultimately saw this as the key.

“They’re asking for $10 million for system development and construction.”

$10 million.

It wasn’t a small amount.

A small house in Manhattan cost about $200,000.

$10 million was enough to buy 50 such houses.

Neil Hamilton twirled his right index finger and asked,

“With that money, can we build the system in every home?”

“It’s not the cost of building it in every home. Each household has to pay for the modem installation separately.”

“Customers won’t like that.”

An executive next to Neil Hamilton said as if a new idea had occurred to him.

“Neil, how about creating a new premium product and providing this kind of service to those customers?”

The marketing executive was the one who mentioned the package deal to Neil Hamilton.

“Bundle it?”

“Customers who can afford to buy premium products will probably like it. It could be a special service that sets them apart from other customers.”

Neil Hamilton turned his gaze to Lewis Nolan.

“Lewis, I want you to push this forward.”

This meant he was willing to risk $10 million.

Lewis Nolan bowed deeply.

“Understood.”

He thought things were going more smoothly than expected.

‘I don’t know what wind blew into stubborn Neil.’

Whatever the reason, the important thing was that this project had been approved.

‘If I succeed in this, I might be able to get a little closer to Neil.’

Currently, there were twelve executives between him and CEO Neil Hamilton.

His goal was to reduce those twelve to six or five.

***

“Are you saying a meeting in New York is impossible?”

Lewis Nolan looked dumbfounded at Sarah’s answer.

“That date only works in Las Vegas.”

“You’re in Boston, so why are you asking to meet in Las Vegas?”

“Our technical team is heading to Las Vegas.”

When Sarah said firmly, Lewis Nolan let out a long sigh.

“Alright. Let’s meet in Las Vegas then.”

Sarah discussed the details with him and then hung up the phone.

Click.

She smiled brightly as she put down the receiver.

“Charlie, it’s a success.”

Jung Hyun-woo knew what had happened because he had been listening to her call.

“JP Morgan accepted our proposal.”

“Yes, they want to meet you in Las Vegas.”

Jung Hyun-woo put his hands together and narrowed his brows slightly.

“Isn’t it a bit tight?”

“Until the demo version is complete?”

“I’ll just have to stay up a few nights.”

“If you don’t sleep at night, you won’t grow taller.”

Jung Hyun-woo got up from his seat when the height story came up. Then, he alternately measured his head and Sarah’s head with his right hand.

“Sarah, are we the same now?”

Jung Hyun-woo’s eyes had already risen to the same height as Sarah’s eyes.

“Really?”

Without her knowing, Jung Hyun-woo had grown more than 10cm.

“I’ll be taller next year, you know?”

“So, it’s okay to stay up all night?”

“That’s roughly the story.”

“Try to get some sleep if possible.”

She thought it would be better to reduce sleep by splitting it up rather than staying up all night.

“I’ll consider it.”

“Really?”

“When have I ever not listened to Sarah?”

Sarah reached out her right hand and stroked his hair.

“It might be difficult next year.”

The growing boy was growing rapidly.

“I’m going to get my driver’s license this year too.”

He was thinking of driving a car himself.

‘I can’t keep getting rides in Sarah’s car forever.’

Sarah tilted her head to the side.

“You won’t need it at MIT, will you?”

He had to live in the dorm for the time being.

“After I leave the dorm.”

“Hmm, you’re not buying a car to get a girlfriend, are you?”

Jung Hyun-woo chuckled at her words. He countered her joke with a joke.

“There won’t be any beauties like Sarah at MIT, will there?”

Sarah didn’t back down and raised her right index finger.

“You can’t just say there aren’t any. There are cases like Laura.”

Laura Hilton.

She was an absurdly overpowered character.

“Come to think of it, I’d like to stop by Laura’s on the way back from Las Vegas to thank her.”

Laura Hilton had a big stake in Jung Hyun-woo’s admission to MIT.

“You’re going to see Laura while you’re in the West?”

“It’s vacation anyway.”

America’s winter vacation was until mid-January.

“Hmm, okay. I’ll contact my sister.”

“Please.”

Jung Hyun-woo thought that he had to repay Laura someday.

***

Las Vegas, 1983.

Sarah clicked her tongue at the crowds surrounding her.

“Ha! I thought Las Vegas was all about betting on slot machines…”

“Have I ever shown interest in something like that?”

Sarah replied briefly to his words.

“No.”

The place where she and Jung Hyun-woo were standing was CES (Consumer Electronics Show), the world’s largest electronics trade show. And CES was held every January in Las Vegas.

Sarah felt like she had been outsmarted by Jung Hyun-woo.

‘I completely let my guard down.’

She thought this trip was just a normal staycation [a vacation spent close to home]. But it wasn’t.

“Sarah! Look over there.”

Jung Hyun-woo pointed to the booth of Commodore, an American PC manufacturer.

“I heard they have a lot of inventory these days, but they’re releasing a new model again?”

“If they don’t release a new model when inventory piles up, the company will go bankrupt.”

“That’s true.”

The two headed to Commodore’s booth.

Commodore was releasing a new PC at a groundbreaking price of just $399.

Jung Hyun-woo examined the new PC and asked,

“Can this model be equipped with a modem?”

An engineer on one side of the booth approached him at his question.

“This model can’t, but the model next to it can.”

“I see.”

“Are you interested in this model?”

Commodore’s PCs were sold more for gaming than for learning, so they were of great interest to teenagers, especially male students.

“I’m thinking about software that uses a modem.”

The engineer tilted his head at Jung Hyun-woo’s words.

“Software?”

Sarah intervened between the two and said,

“Jung is a developer.”

The engineer blinked at the boy who hadn’t yet shed his childishness.

“You’re a developer?”

Jung Hyun-woo shrugged.

“I’m not that famous yet.”

As he joked, Sarah added,

“Jung developed the Zero Space series.”

The engineer knew Activision’s Zero Space series.

“Is that really true?”

His eyes widened like a full moon.

Jung Hyun-woo shrugged as if he was dissatisfied with her explanation.

“Sarah.”

“It’s okay. It’s not like you’re a developer behind a mask.”

Sarah thought that she had to reveal herself accurately in a place like this to get what she wanted.

“You participated in the development of that Zero Space, that’s amazing.”

The engineer began to look at Jung Hyun-woo with different eyes.

‘Ha… I didn’t participate in the development, I made it all myself.’

Jung Hyun-woo sighed inwardly and asked about Commodore’s specs in detail.

The engineer answered meticulously to the best of his knowledge.

As Sarah said, trade show visitors and software developers were treated differently.

“Thank you for your time.”

“Feel free to ask if you have any more questions.”

“I’ll come again tomorrow.”

Jung Hyun-woo left Commodore’s booth and headed to Atari’s booth.

Atari was fiercely competing with Commodore in the home game market.

Sarah whispered to him,

“The atmosphere here isn’t good.”

Atari’s booth had a gloomy atmosphere, unlike its flashy posters.

“Because ET failed.”

In December 1982, Atari released a game based on Steven Spielberg’s biggest hit, ET.

Before its release.

Atari’s expectations for ET were truly great.

Since ET was a box office hit that ranked first in the world, they expected it to be a hit as a game as well.

However, ET, which was released targeting the Christmas special, was a historic failure.

‘Weren’t there over 2 million returns?’

If 2 million cartridges were returned, it meant that there wasn’t even enough warehouse space to store them.

“Why did it fail?”

“Because it’s not fun.”

Jung Hyun-woo thought there was only one reason why a game failed.

‘The reason for a game’s existence is fun. A game that has lost that can never succeed.’

No one played games for studying or similar purposes.

Sarah asked again in a small voice,

“If it’s ET, wouldn’t an excellent development team be attached to it?”

For a hit like ET, it was normal for a blockbuster-level production cost and development team to be attached.

In fact, Atari did that too. However, there was one thing missing.

“No matter how great the development team is, if they don’t have time, they can only create a poor work.”

“They didn’t have time?”

“It seems they thought of ET as a savior to save the collapsing Atari.”

ET was released in the summer.

The game came out in the winter, so the development team had to make ET in just a few months.

‘ET is different from the shooting game Zero series. First of all, a story has to be included, and graphics that everyone can be satisfied with have to be included as well.’

If it had been released around March 1983, ET might have received a completely different evaluation.

But there is no ‘what if’ in history.

Atari released ET in December, and instead of salvation, its downfall accelerated.

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