The Conglomerate Family Became A Villain [EN]: Chapter 45

45. Becoming a Villain in a Chaebol Family – Victoria Corporation 03 –

***

“So, the heiress of the Hilton family is fond of Hyun-woo?”

“That’s the only explanation I can think of.”

Team Leader Hong Won-ik narrowed his brow.

‘What kind of charm does Hyun-woo possess…’

Jeong Hyun-woo was younger and from a different background.

“If that’s the case, what do you think is the reason the Hilton family’s heiress is fond of Hyun-woo?”

Choi Kyung-min cautiously asked.

“Could it be… a maternal instinct?”

Team Leader Hong Won-ik’s thick eyebrows shot up.

“Maternal instinct?”

“I heard that marriage happens early in the United States. I know that women around Miss Hilton’s age often already have children.”

“So, because she doesn’t have children, she’s fond of Hyun-woo instead? Manager Choi, do you think that makes sense?”

As his voice grew louder, Choi Kyung-min placed both hands on his knees.

“I’m sorry. That’s the only thing I could think of.”

What Team Leader Hong Won-ik really wanted to know was who Jeong Hyun-woo’s new backer was.

“Is there anything else? Try to remember.”

Choi Kyung-min sighed briefly.

“Well, I don’t know the reason, but one thing was certain.”

“What is it?”

“The young master became as gentle as a lamb when he was with Miss Hilton.”

Jeong Hyun-woo had never shown Choi Kyung-min any sign of conflict with Sarah.

Besides, he didn’t cause any problems during the trip with Sarah.

“So, Hyun-woo behaved well with the Hilton family’s heiress?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Hong Won-ik crossed his arms.

“I don’t know if I should call this good luck or his own doing.”

If Jeong Hyun-woo was as close to the Hilton family’s heiress as Choi Kyung-min claimed, he could understand what had happened.

‘The Hilton family’s heiress gave Hyun-woo the money.’

Having a strong backer.

That was a strength that couldn’t even be compared to having a prestigious university degree or a professional license.

‘What did the Hilton family’s heiress see in Hyun-woo…’

People like him always looked for understandable reasons. But there were often things in the world that had no understandable reason.

He thought this case was one of those.

As he was lost in thought, Choi Kyung-min asked him.

“Team Leader, did the young master cause any trouble?”

Team Leader Hong Won-ik shook his head and replied.

“It’s nothing like that. I just felt like he had a new backer, so I called you.”

He got up from his seat and said.

“Manager Choi, please work hard for just one year. I’ll do something for you during the regular personnel changes next year. Do you trust me?”

“I only trust you, Team Leader.”

Team Leader Hong Won-ik treated Choi Kyung-min as if he were one of his own.

But Choi Kyung-min knew.

‘I’m not one of Team Leader Hong’s people.’

He hadn’t contacted him once during the few months he had been in Daejeon.

If he thought he was his own person, he wouldn’t have left him like this.

‘If I had known this would happen, I should have sided with the young master.’

He sighed deeply inside and finished his short business trip to the Seoul headquarters.

Choi Kyung-min headed to the express bus terminal.

***

“Hyun-woo really got into MIT [Massachusetts Institute of Technology]?”

“It seems like he has a backer.”

“Backer?”

“There’s a rumor that he made a friend from a prestigious American family.”

Jeong In-hae frowned deeply at Executive Director Jeong Min-seok’s words.

“How did Hyun-woo make a friend from a prestigious American family? Do you think that makes sense?”

Even her children, who were studying abroad in the United States, couldn’t make friends from prestigious families.

‘Hyun-woo did what our kids couldn’t do? That’s impossible!’

She could never admit it.

However, Executive Director Jeong Min-seok was different. He had the capacity to acknowledge the enemy.

“Sister, sometimes playing by the rules isn’t the only way to win.”

Jeong In-hae retorted sharply.

“What are you talking about? Playing by the rules isn’t the way to win?”

“You know, children often become close by stepping over the line.”

Jeong In-hae raised her eyebrows.

“Hyun-woo became friends with those prestigious kids by committing misconduct?”

“Wouldn’t it be reasonable to assume that?”

“So?”

Executive Director Jeong Min-seok lowered his voice.

“Hyun-woo probably won’t come back from the United States.”

“What are you talking about? He’s not coming back from the United States?”

“I heard that Hyun-woo asked his father to transfer the house in Boston to his name.”

“The house in Boston?”

“It seems like he likes the United States.”

Executive Director Jeong Min-seok didn’t care what Jeong Hyun-woo did in the United States.

‘Whether he parties every day, studies at MIT, or works in the United States, it has nothing to do with me.’

As he smiled faintly, Jeong In-hae frowned.

“Brother, you’ve become too soft since you were promoted to executive director, haven’t you?”

“Aren’t you just worried that something like that will happen?”

What the two were worried about was Jeong Hyun-woo inheriting a significant portion of the group’s shares.

“If Hyun-woo becomes favored by Father, can you guarantee that that won’t happen?”

“You can tell him to give him the American shares.”

Jeong In-hae tilted her head.

“The American shares?”

“If Hyun-woo wants to live in the United States, you can just make him the head of Daewoon Corporation’s American branch, right? Father will be satisfied with that much.”

The Daewoon Group’s main focus was not exporting to the United States. So the American branch wasn’t that big either. He thought it would be enough to give him the title of branch manager.

‘Hehehehe, American branch manager, isn’t that a good title?’

Jeong In-hae sighed deeply as if she was displeased with even the title being given to Jeong Hyun-woo.

“Ha… You know, Min-seok, you’ve become too soft these days, right?”

“Me?”

“You’re not the same as before.”

Executive Director Jeong Min-seok turned his body and said.

“Shouldn’t actions change when the position changes?”

He was saying that it should be different when he was a general manager, a managing director, and an executive director.

“You’re not going to worry about Hyun-woo’s matter anymore?”

“I’ll keep an eye on it.”

“So?”

“That means there’s no need to take separate action.”

Executive Director Jeong Min-seok didn’t think it was necessary to push Jeong Hyun-woo too hard.

‘If I push him too hard, something might go wrong.’

It would be a big problem if the person who received money from him reported it to the media.

‘Conversely, he could threaten us.’

He didn’t trust anyone.

***

March 1983.

U.S. President Reagan called the Soviet Union an evil empire, and the Cold War intensified.

People argued that Reagan was trying to overcome America’s economic difficulties with ideological conflict.

Jeong Hyun-woo fell into thought while watching the news.

‘The Soviet Union will collapse soon.’

What benefits can I get from this?

The answer to this question was difficult.

‘The political turmoil in Russia, which succeeded the Soviet Union, was overcome after Putin appeared.’

Putin later became a dictator, but it was true that the Russian political situation was chaotic until his appearance.

“Charlie? Charlie?”

Jeong Hyun-woo paused and turned his head as Sarah called him repeatedly.

“Sarah?”

“What are you thinking so hard about?”

“Oh, the Cold War.”

Sarah chuckled.

“I didn’t know Charlie was interested in such things.”

“I’m a college student too.”

He was telling her not to treat him like a high school student.

“I finished the first repurchase.”

“How much did you repurchase?”

“3 million dollars.”

“What’s the total amount?”

“It’s a 750% profit, so it’s a little over 25 million dollars including the principal.”

Frankly, he didn’t really grasp the magnitude of it.

“How much is the tax?”

“About 4 million dollars.”

“So, 21 million dollars is left?”

“That’s right.”

Sarah was smiling, but Jeong Hyun-woo was calm.

“Is it below expectations?”

“No.”

“Then why do you look like that? Because of the Cold War?”

“I don’t feel it.”

“Me too. It’s just that the numbers in the account are increasing.”

Victoria Corporation still had 2 million dollars left that had not been shorted [bet against].

If they shorted this as well, Victoria Corporation’s funds would easily exceed 30 million dollars, excluding taxes.

“Charlie, I have some bad news too.”

Jeong Hyun-woo turned down the TV volume and asked.

“Bad news? It’s been a while.”

He thought things had been going too well lately.

‘Yeah, sometimes there has to be bad news too.’

Sarah took out a memo from her bag and said.

“This is last month’s Zero series sales.”

Jeong Hyun-woo received the note with the Zero series sales and groaned lowly.

“Hmm, this is troublesome.”

Total sales of 70,000 cartridges.

This was the sum of the sales of 1 and 2.

‘At this rate, selling 5 million units will be impossible.’

The Atari shock [the video game industry crisis of 1983] brought great wealth to him and Victoria Corporation, but it was fatal to the Zero series.

“We need to lower the target.”

“How much?”

“To 4 million.”

Jeong Hyun-woo’s original goal was 5 million cartridges.

“Wouldn’t it be possible if 3 comes out?”

If the current trend continued, even 4 million could be difficult.

“Now, we have no choice but to trust the market’s potential.”

He didn’t know exactly how long the impact of the Atari shock would last.

‘This side only knew that the Atari shock would destroy the American game industry.’

If he had known the duration of the Atari shock, he could have accurately controlled the timing of the repurchase.

“And there are a few more news items.”

“Is it from Activision?”

“That’s right.”

“What news is it?”

Sarah’s smile disappeared for a moment. This didn’t seem like good news either.

“I heard that 23 game companies went bankrupt last month.”

Jeong Hyun-woo sighed deeply.

“It’s a complete collapse of the bubble.”

“There’s even worse news.”

“There’s a lot of bad news today.”

“Activision is going to lower the price of cartridges.”

Jeong Hyun-woo saw through the hidden meaning in her words.

“They have no choice but to lower the price of cartridges, so they’re saying they want to lower the royalty too.”

Until now, he had been receiving a royalty of $5 per cartridge from Activision.

“Charlie, did Robert contact you in advance?”

She had a look on her face asking how he knew.

“No. I just thought that the only thing left to do was lower the price.”

“You’re still Charlie.”

“So, how much did they ask to cut it down to?”

“2 dollars.”

“That’s about 40% of the amount I’m receiving now?”

Sarah thought that Jeong Hyun-woo might not accept the 60% price cut.

‘If this side insists on the contract, there will be no way for Activision.’

However, he didn’t insist. Instead, he proposed a counteroffer.

“Sarah, tell Robert this.”

“How?”

“We can’t cut the royalty specified in the contract. Instead, we can receive it as Activision’s shares.”

“Are you thinking of increasing your stake when Activision goes public [Initial Public Offering]?”

Jeong Hyun-woo nodded and replied.

“That side will probably think it’s better than having cash go out right away.”

Even if they reduced the royalty to $2, they would have to spend more than $100,000 in cash every month.

Moreover, if Zero Space 3 was released, that expenditure could increase several times.

From Activision’s point of view, it was good to be able to put out the immediate fire.

“Then you’re not going to invest separately in Activision?”

“Wouldn’t the shares I receive as royalties for the Zero series be enough?”

“Well, Zero Space 3 will be released next month.”

Even if Zero Space 3 sold only half as much as its predecessor, they could secure more than $1 million worth of Activision shares.

“If Activision goes public, how many days is the lock-up period?”

At the time of the IPO.

The major shareholder’s lock-up period [a contractual restriction preventing insiders from selling shares for a set period] was essential to protect individual investors.

“Usually 3 months.”

Jeong Hyun-woo sighed deeply inside.

‘Hoo… It would be a lot to salvage even half of the 1 million dollars.’

He didn’t think Activision’s stock price would be maintained.

‘It will be close to impossible to maintain the stock price in a situation where game companies are going bankrupt.’

Unless a super hit game is released?

It was safe to say that Activision’s stock price would plummet as soon as it was listed.

“The profits from the IPO won’t be great.”

Sarah raised her right index finger and said.

“Still, isn’t it okay?”

“Okay?”

“Either way, it’s 2 dollars if you don’t receive it as shares. Even if Activision’s shares are cut in half, it’s more profitable to receive it as shares.”

If you receive it in cash, it’s 2 dollars.

If you sell it at the point of a 50% drop after the IPO, it’s 2.5 dollars.

In other words, it was 0.5 dollars more profitable per cartridge to receive shares.

Jeong Hyun-woo nodded his head greatly at her beautiful calculation.

“Now that I hear it, that’s true.”

Sarah folded her right index finger and said.

“It’s a bit early to calculate because Activision hasn’t accepted our proposal.”

“Activision won’t refuse.”

Activision, as well as most game companies, were running out of cash.

‘Moreover, as of 1983, bank interest rates are also high.’

It was more realistic to fill the hole by selling shares than to take out a loan at a high interest rate.

“Sarah, how about suggesting one more thing to Robert?”

“What suggestion?”

Jeong Hyun-woo was convinced that this proposal would lead Victoria Corporation to a higher level.

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