The Conglomerate Family Became A Villain [EN]: Chapter 53

53. The Conglomerate Villain – Riding the Wave 01 –

– Riding the Wave –

Three days before the launch of JP Service, the stock market service provided to JP Morgan,

Jung Hyun-woo received a call.

“Aren’t you coming home for summer vacation?”

The caller was Chief Secretary Hong Won-ik. He received the call at the dormitory management office.

“I don’t think I can this time either.”

1980s.

Even prestigious universities like MIT didn’t install phones in every dorm room.

“The Chairman wants to see you.”

It was only natural that Chairman Jung Woo-sun wanted to see his grandson who had entered MIT.

“I know.”

“If you know, you should come.”

If he had the time, it would have been good to go back to Korea and impress his grandfather. But right now, his top priority was JP Service.

‘The funds invested in software and network construction alone exceed $3 million.’

Adding the cost of modems and the labor costs of service installers, the cost skyrocketed.

‘A single mistake could cost tens of millions of dollars.’

If JP Service failed, Victoria Corporation could become a ship that sinks before it even sets sail.

‘That can never happen.’

Jung Hyun-woo lowered his voice.

“Chief Secretary, to be honest, my grades aren’t very good this semester. I don’t think I have time to go to Korea.”

Chief Secretary Hong Won-ik paused when he heard that his grades weren’t good.

“How bad are they?”

“I barely avoided academic probation.”

“Is it that bad?”

“It’s MIT, where geniuses gather. Just surviving here is tough.”

The cradle of geniuses, MIT.

Surviving the competition with geniuses there was a great achievement in itself.

‘Come to think of it, Hyun-woo is the first from a Korean conglomerate family to enter MIT.’

Chief Secretary Hong Won-ik had no choice but to back down.

“Then can you come in the winter?”

“I’ll try to make time for New Year’s.”

Chief Secretary Hong Won-ik nodded.

“It has to be New Year’s.”

“I understand.”

Click.

After hanging up, he felt thirsty.

‘Is it summer already?’

In 1983, more days had passed than remained.

***

Chief Secretary Hong Won-ik bowed deeply before Chairman Jung Woo-sun.

“Hyun-woo says he can’t come this summer either.”

“What’s the reason?”

“He says his grades aren’t good.”

“Grades?”

“It seems his test scores weren’t very good.”

Chairman Jung Woo-sun stroked his beard.

“Studying in America must be difficult.”

“It’s a school where only the most talented students in America are admitted, so it seems difficult for Hyun-woo too.”

Chairman Jung Woo-sun raised his right hand.

“It’s okay. My grandson wants to stand shoulder to shoulder with the best in America, how can I call him back? I’ll see him next time.”

Daewoon Group was overcoming the crisis of the early 1980s and continuing its growth. The Korean economy was entering the early stages of the Three Lows boom [low interest rates, low oil prices, and a weak US dollar, which boosted Korean exports].

“I’ve also taken care of the Asian Games matter.”

“What does the Blue House [the presidential residence of South Korea] say?”

“We agreed with them and then decided on the amount.”

Chairman Jung Woo-sun smiled broadly.

“You’re the best.”

“You flatter me.”

Chief Secretary Hong Won-ik was further increasing his influence as Chairman Jung Woo-sun’s closest aide.

“But Chief Secretary Hong.”

“Yes, Chairman.”

“Shouldn’t we do something for Hyun-woo?”

“For Hyun-woo?”

“Yes.”

Chairman Jung Woo-sun wanted to do something for his grandson who had entered MIT.

Chief Secretary Hong Won-ik quickly racked his brains.

“Why don’t we do something in America?”

“In America?”

“Buying him a house within commuting distance instead of a dormitory could be a gift.”

Chairman Jung Woo-sun slightly raised his voice.

“Buy him a house near the school?”

“How about that?”

“Hmm, isn’t there anything bigger than that?”

Something bigger.

Did he want to buy his proud grandson a mansion?

‘That’s not a good idea.’

Chief Secretary Hong Won-ik cautiously asked.

“Chairman, what do you mean by something bigger?”

“Something like land in Gyeonggi-do [a province surrounding Seoul] or a building in Seoul.”

The scale was larger than Chief Secretary Hong Won-ik had guessed.

‘He wants to set aside some property in Korea for his grandson.’

The other grandsons would be quite jealous.

“Then shall we look into a new building in Gangnam [a wealthy district in Seoul]?”

In 1983, Seoul’s central business districts were Jongno and Gwanghwamun. As a result, the headquarters of Daewoon Group, as well as those of Samjung Group and Daehyun Group, were concentrated in this area.

Chairman Jung Woo-sun also raised an eyebrow at the name Gangnam.

“Gangnam?”

He was asking why Gangnam of all places.

“The buildings in Gangnam are new and clean, and they are cheaper compared to this area.”

In short, they were cost-effective.

“Is that so?”

“I think Gangnam also suits Hyun-woo’s image well.”

“Then take care of that as well. Don’t take too long.”

Chief Secretary Hong Won-ik bowed deeply once again.

“I understand, Chairman.”

Chairman Jung Woo-sun wanted to prepare a grand gift for his grandson’s return.

***

A large electronic display in Wall Street.

This display was made by connecting dozens of color monitors.

By 21st-century standards, it was crude, but in the 1980s, it was the pinnacle of cutting-edge technology.

The advertisement for JP Morgan’s new service began on this giant screen.

“JP Service! Now you can check the stock prices of your desired stocks directly from your home!”

“JP Morgan has prepared an amazing service?”

“It’s a service that only JP Morgan can provide. Now you don’t have to drive a pickup truck for two hours to check stock quotes.”

Neil Hamilton of JP Morgan spared no support for JP Service. He directed JP Securities and JP Investment Bank to implement all aggressive marketing, including newspaper and TV advertisements. The advertisement displayed on the large Wall Street screen was one such directive.

And the day after the TV advertisement began.

An employee of Victoria Corporation opened the president’s office door and entered without knocking.

“President! 50,000 people have applied from Florida alone.”

He was so excited by the unexpected results that he forgot to knock.

“50,000 people from Florida alone?”

Jung Hyun-woo had expected 100,000 to 200,000 subscribers.

The employee smiled broadly at the number of applications, which far exceeded expectations.

“President, it’s a huge success!”

Florida was not a place where the IT industry was as prosperous as California.

If 50,000 people applied for membership in such a place, it was a smash hit.

However, Jung Hyun-woo couldn’t smile.

‘This is a big problem…’

Sometimes, being too successful can be a problem.

Sera, who was in a meeting with Jung Hyun-woo, soon realized what was wrong.

“If it’s 50,000 from Florida alone, at least 1 million will apply from all over the United States.”

1 million subscribers.

That meant they needed 1 million modems.

“And even if we estimate the modem price at just $10, we need $10 million.”

Jung Hyun-woo sighed briefly.

“Hoo, $10 million will wipe out all our spare funds.”

“It doesn’t end there.”

“What do you mean?”

“We also bear half of the installation costs.”

This meant that logistics and labor costs would be added to the modem price.

Sera’s face was pale.

“Even if we estimate $5 per household, that’s $5 million.”

Combined with the modem price, it was $15 million.

“We’ve already spent millions of dollars…”

“We’ll have to go to the bank.”

Sera thought that the only option was to look into corporate loans.

‘Still, it’s JP Morgan’s project. We should be able to get a loan from JP Morgan Bank.’

She didn’t like the idea of debt or interest, but there was no other choice.

‘If things get really bad, we may have to sell Victoria Corporation’s shares.’

Jung Hyun-woo suddenly thought of something and sighed deeply.

“Hoo… Actually, the bank isn’t the problem.”

Sera turned to him at his words.

“Is there another problem besides the lack of funds?”

“Yes.”

A short answer.

Sera couldn’t help but feel nervous.

‘Whenever Charlie’s expression is this dark, something unusual has happened.’

“What’s the problem this time?”

Jung Hyun-woo took a deep breath and answered her question.

“We don’t have enough modems and network equipment.”

Sera let out a short groan at his answer.

“Ah! You mean we can’t buy as much equipment as we want even if we have the money.”

The factory’s production volume was limited. Even if they wanted 1 million units, they couldn’t produce 1 million units right away.

It could take several months, or even more than a year.

‘If it takes more than a year to install the modems, people will cancel their JP Service subscriptions.’

Victoria Corporation had to complete the installation within at least 3 or 4 months.

Jung Hyun-woo said with a dark face.

“We only have 200,000 units secured.”

To handle all 1 million subscribers, they needed 800,000 more modems and the network equipment to handle them.

“And there’s another problem.”

It was one mountain after another.

Another problem popped up.

‘Is the number of service applicants exceeding the processing capacity of the system or program?’

Sera’s face was dark as she asked.

“Is there another problem besides the equipment?”

Jung Hyun-woo nodded and replied.

“The number of JP Service installers also needs to increase in proportion to the number of modems.”

JP Service used telephone lines, so there was no need for separate fiber optic cables. However, subscribers couldn’t connect the modem to the telephone line and install the software on their computers themselves. In other words, they needed thousands more technicians to install JP Service in 1 million households.

“This is a really big problem!”

Jung Hyun-woo put his hands together.

“Sera, we don’t have time. We need to move together.”

Sera grabbed the table and stood up.

“No, Charlie needs to stay here.”

Jung Hyun-woo raised an eyebrow at her opposition.

“Stay here?”

“If the technology manager doesn’t stay on-site, this project won’t work.”

‘There were quite a few errors during the beta service.’

Victoria Corporation’s development team had done their best to build the program and system, but frequent errors occurred due to technical limitations.

This was something that even Jung Hyun-woo’s power and technology couldn’t fix.

Sera believed that Jung Hyun-woo absolutely had to stay on-site.

“Sera can’t do all that work alone.”

“I’ll take another team member with me.”

Jung Hyun-woo thought that Sera was trying to overdo it again.

“Sera, what about JP Morgan?”

She was in charge of coordinating the project with JP Morgan.

In fact, she didn’t have the余裕 [room/capacity] to worry about the things mentioned above.

Nevertheless, she didn’t back down.

Because someone had to do them.

“I can still manage this side if I cut back on sleep. But not Charlie’s side.”

Jung Hyun-woo shook his head.

“This isn’t something that can be solved by cutting back on sleep.”

He thought that they needed not just hard work, but also a clever idea or a solution.

‘Isn’t there someone? Someone who can replace the two of us.’

Victoria Corporation had three team leaders.

The first team leader was John River of the New York branch.

The second team leader was Jung Hyun-woo of Development Team 1.

The third team leader was Young Bolton of Development Team 2.

‘John is out of the question, should I entrust it to Young?’

However, if Young was missing, there was a high possibility of problems occurring on the software side. Moreover, the things mentioned above were not the duties of the development team leader.

“Charlie, I’ll just do it.”

Jung Hyun-woo opposed again this time.

“Sera, this isn’t a problem that can be solved with stubbornness.”

“These are all problems that only I can solve.”

“Please give me some time to think.”

It was when he put his hands together.

Knock. Knock.

Someone knocked on the president’s office door.

“Who is it?”

A low voice was heard from outside.

“It’s Young.”

Young Bolton, the team leader of Development Team 2.

‘Speak of the devil.’

Jung Hyun-woo thought that if all else failed, he would have to entrust this task to him.

“Come in.”

Young Bolton opened the door and entered. He lowered his voice after sensing the heavy atmosphere.

“I have something to report.”

“What is it?”

“Activision has announced a large-scale layoff. And at the same time, four representatives are resigning…”

Activision’s stock price had been falling continuously since its IPO [Initial Public Offering].

This large-scale layoff and management resignation could be said to be a follow-up measure to poor performance and falling stock prices.

“Another bad news.”

Sera now thought that Activision’s stock was no different from waste paper.

‘The lock-up period is 3 months away.’

Victoria Corporation could only dispose of its Activision shares after 3 months.

Jung Hyun-woo paused for a moment after hearing the news. Then he slammed the table hard with both hands.

Bang!

“It’s good news!”

Sera narrowed her brows, surprised by his sudden action and exclamation.

“Charlie, good news?”

Was he saying that Activision’s layoffs would help boost Activision’s stock price?

‘Sometimes the stock price rebounds when you get rid of underperforming parts, but this isn’t something to be so happy about.’

Jung Hyun-woo replied in a confident voice.

“Sera, let’s recruit Robert.”

“What?”

“Robert might be able to solve this problem.”

Jung Hyun-woo wanted to solve this problem by recruiting Robert, who was the co-CEO of Activision.

“Charlie, how can Robert solve this problem?”

“Activision is connected to more hardware companies than we are. And Robert holds the key to connecting with those companies.”

To put it simply, he was saying that they should take the hardware from the warehouses of companies like Atari or Commodore and use it.

Sera narrowed her brows.

“Do you think that’s possible?”

“It might be possible. Let’s call Robert first.”

Jung Hyun-woo found an opportunity in the crisis.

‘If it goes well, we can overcome this wave.’

If they could overcome the wave of 1 million subscribers, Victoria Corporation could achieve an amazing leap forward.

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