The Conglomerate Family Became A Villain [EN]: Chapter 56

Becoming a Villain in a Chaebol Family – Riding the Waves 04 –

***

A Montblanc fountain pen lay on the marble table.

“So, what are the results?”

Sean Luke, head of JP Morgan’s technology division, bowed deeply.

“There were some minor issues, but to give you the result, it was successful.”

“We poured $5 million into marketing in the first month alone. It would be troubling if it weren’t successful.”

The marketing expenses JP Morgan spent were unprecedented.

Sean Luke asked, still bowing his head.

“Neal, what made you invest so aggressively?”

Even when he first met Jung Hyun-woo and Sarah, he never expected JP Services to become such a large business.

Neal Hamilton took out a cigar from a wooden box. He cut the end and lit it.

“Sean, have you ever smelled money?”

Sean Luke raised his head slightly.

“Are you saying you smelled money in this business?”

Neal Hamilton took a deep puff of his cigar.

“When Louis first brought it up, I smelled money.”

This will make money.

Neal Hamilton’s instincts told him so.

“You mean a seasoned investor’s intuition.”

Tuk. Tuk.

Neal Hamilton tapped off the ash.

“Sean.”

“Yes.”

“Do you want to sit in this seat?”

For JP Morgan investment bank executives, Neal Hamilton’s position was one they had to aspire to one day.

“How could I even think of such a thing?”

“Speak honestly.”

“Neal, I am always just doing my best.”

“You’re not being honest. Well, it doesn’t matter.”

Neal Hamilton swiveled his chair. Wall Street came into his view.

“If this project succeeds, I will become the chairman.”

What he was aiming for was the chairmanship of the JP Morgan bank group.

“If I become chairman, this seat will be vacant.”

I have chosen you as my successor to fill my vacant position.

Sean Luke bowed deeply.

“I can only hope for Neal’s generous disposition.”

Neal Hamilton took another deep puff of his cigar.

“Hoo….”

Long smoke rose upwards.

“You don’t smoke, do you?”

In the 1980s, a non-smoking craze swept through American high society to emphasize temperance and patience.

You must quit smoking to get promoted.

How can someone who can’t even quit smoking manage their team or company?

A famous author even depicted an executive cutting off his finger to quit smoking for a promotion in the novel A.

“Neal, you know our generation, don’t you?”

Sean Luke’s generation was one of extremes.

Hippies, drugs, and licentious freedom.

And on the opposite side, temperance, patience, and thorough anti-communism were emphasized.

Thanks to that, Sean Luke’s generation had to choose between unbridled freedom and thorough control.

Tuk. Tuk.

Neal Hamilton tapped off the ash again.

“I took a bullet in Normandy [a region in France and site of a major WWII battle]. I was lucky. It went straight through cleanly.”

When shot, the most dangerous thing was whether the bullet passed through or not. Surprisingly, the prognosis was better when it passed through.

Of course, if the bullet fragmented and riddled the body, it meant instant death regardless of whether the bullet passed through.

“Sean, would you believe me if I said I smelled money on that battlefield?”

Was it the rambling of someone who had passed middle age and entered old age?

Sean Luke couldn’t easily understand his words.

“Smelling money on the battlefield, what do you mean?”

Neal Hamilton chuckled and replied.

“Hehehe, if we introduced the emergency medical system from the Normandy battlefield to a crime-ridden city like New York, wouldn’t that be profitable? That’s what I thought the moment I got shot and was being transported to the rear.”

Sean Luke bowed his head slightly.

“You mean the smell of money can be detected at any moment.”

Neal Hamilton waved his right hand.

“Sean, make sure JP Services succeeds. Then this seat will be yours.”

Sean Luke bowed deeply.

“Mr. Hamilton, haven’t I already told you? I am always just doing my best.”

I’m not aiming for the representative position.

I’m just doing my best in everything.

Sean Luke tried to hide his true feelings.

Clack.

He frowned as he left Neal Hamilton’s office.

‘Hmph, he’s just trying to use people.’

This seat will soon be yours.

How many leaders have used these words to their subordinates?

He thought he shouldn’t fall for this sweet temptation.

‘Mr. Hamilton, I will take that seat even if you don’t hand it over.’

Sean Luke was confident that he could obtain the position of head of JP Morgan Investment Bank with his own power.

***

“It’s a huge success!”

Sarah was the happiest. She spread her arms wide and roamed around the office.

“Hooray! Hooray! Hooray!”

Jung Hyun-woo couldn’t rejoice with his arms spread wide like her.

‘There’s still a lot to check.’

JP Services wasn’t something that ended with an hour or two of service. On days when the stock exchange was open, it had to operate normally for more than 20 hours a day.

“Hoo….”

A long sigh escaped him.

“Mr. Jung, congratulations.”

Jung Hyun-woo forced a smile at Eric Bogle’s congratulations.

“It’s all thanks to everyone’s hard work.”

“JP Services wouldn’t have come into the world without Mr. Jung.”

“I just provided the idea.”

While Jung Hyun-woo was talking to Eric Bogle, calls came in from all over the place. He and Eric Bogle had to cut off their conversation and deal with those calls.

Six hours later.

A message appeared on the computer monitor indicating that the stock market had closed.

“It’s over.”

Jung Hyun-woo nodded at Eric Bogle’s shout.

“Good work.”

The majority of the test office staff got up from their seats, but Jung Hyun-woo couldn’t get up from his chair.

‘My work isn’t over yet.’

The stock market was closed, but JP Services wasn’t over yet.

The network and server only had four hours of rest a day.

For the remaining 20 hours, it had to operate normally just like during the day.

“Mr. Jung, aren’t you going home?”

Jung Hyun-woo replied with a faint smile.

“I still have work left.”

“Isn’t John in charge of the backup?”

The system backup was the responsibility of the New York branch led by John River, not the test office.

“I’m not doing the backup, but I’m going to watch to make sure it’s working properly until the backup starts.”

“Then you’ll be late, Mr. Jung.”

“Go ahead.”

Eric Bogle nodded slightly and got up from his seat.

Jung Hyun-woo supported his head with both hands as he watched the employees leaving work.

‘I miss the days when backups and everything else were automatic.’

Almost everything in JP Services was manual. Because of that, the amount of work required to maintain the service was incomparably greater than in the 2020s.

“Charlie?”

It was Sarah who approached Jung Hyun-woo.

“It’s not time to go home yet.”

“When are you planning to leave, Charlie?”

“After dinner?”

“After dinner?”

Jung Hyun-woo nodded and replied.

“Customers who have gone home might turn on their computers and check today’s stock prices.”

By using JP Services, there was no need to wait until the stocks they owned appeared on the TV news.

“Hmm, then I’ll stay until then too.”

“Sarah?”

“I’m Charlie’s guardian.”

Jung Hyun-woo sighed briefly and said.

“Who’s the guardian?”

“Charlie hasn’t become an adult yet. I have to protect him.”

Jung Hyun-woo chuckled.

“I should be escorting the lady.”

“Oh, an escort?”

“Andrew asked me to.”

Sarah’s father, Andrew Hilton, had politely asked him to take care of his daughter.

‘Come to think of it, Thanksgiving is coming up soon.’

He couldn’t guarantee whether he would be able to enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday this year.

***

The next day.

There were a few minor issues, but the system was working fine.

After checking the host server at the New York branch, Jung Hyun-woo turned his gaze to John River.

“John, don’t let your guard down.”

“Charlie, I’m plenty tense.”

John River often clashed with those around him because of his prickly personality, but his skills were solid.

‘He’s not an executive-level person who can oversee the entire project, but he’s an engineer who definitely does his part.’

Jung Hyun-woo thought his current position was just right for him.

‘He probably won’t get promoted to executive, but I should give him a generous bonus.’

It was when he was about to leave the New York branch.

Creak.

Sean Luke, head of JP Morgan’s technology division, entered as the door opened.

“Charlie.”

Jung Hyun-woo knew that he was the highest-ranking person in charge of this project on the JP Morgan side.

“Sean, is there a problem?”

Sean Luke smiled brightly.

“A problem? No.”

“Then what brings you here….”

“The president wants to see you.”

Jung Hyun-woo scratched his head.

“The president wants to see me?”

“Mr. Hamilton heard that a genius from MIT [Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a prestigious university] came to our company and said he couldn’t just let it pass.”

The whims of high-ranking people.

Jung Hyun-woo didn’t think it was anything special.

‘I’ll just listen to a few nice words and nod a few times.’

These kinds of meetings didn’t mean much to developers.

But he was both a developer and a manager.

‘It would be good to humor them to some extent.’

If he was a manager and not a developer, relationships with the higher-ups were very important.

Jung Hyun-woo picked up his jacket.

“Will you show me the way?”

“Of course.”

He headed to Neal Hamilton’s office with Sean Luke.

Neal Hamilton.

He was a figure representing the WASP [White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, referring to the dominant ethnic and cultural group in the US] mainstream society of the United States. To such a person, a young Asian man with black hair was an unusual presence.

“Charlie, was it?”

“Charlie Jung.”

“Charlie must be an American name, right?”

It was a question of whether he had another real name.

“It’s a difficult name to pronounce.”

Neal Hamilton smiled at his answer.

“That’s fine. I am someone who has experienced the cultures of many countries around the world.”

Jung Hyun-woo felt that Neal Hamilton was a typical manager of an American company.

‘Neat and not too eccentric.’

He lightly cleared his throat and responded to the other party’s request.

“My name is Hyun-woo Jung. In Korea, we say the last name first, so it’s Jung Hyun-woo in the Korean style.”

Neal Hamilton nodded at his answer.

“Certainly not an easy name.”

Unlike before, Neal Hamilton was not holding a cigar. This meant that the current meeting was both private and public.

“I heard from Sean. You go to MIT, right?”

“I’m thinking of taking a leave of absence.”

“Leave of absence?”

“MIT is not an easy place that you can attend while running a company.”

Neal Hamilton could tell that Jung Hyun-woo was not just a smart young man.

‘He has guts.’

Of course, he didn’t know how much guts he had yet.

“You… Do you have any thoughts of joining JP Morgan?”

Jung Hyun-woo couldn’t help but pause at his suggestion.

‘Join JP Morgan?’

Does he mean to acquire the company?

Or is it a scout offer to become an official employee of JP Morgan?

Of course, he had no intention of accepting either.

“I think I’m already working with JP Morgan.”

Neal Hamilton slowly nodded.

“Yes, we are working together. But I want a deeper relationship.”

Jung Hyun-woo asked directly.

“What kind of deep relationship are you talking about?”

“We want to buy your company.”

JP Morgan’s acquisition.

Jung Hyun-woo smiled bitterly inside.

‘The fact that those with quick calculations like JP Morgan have moved means that Victoria Corporation is moving forward properly.’

He didn’t think it was time to sell the company yet.

“If I refuse, what happens to Victoria Corporation?”

Neal Hamilton laughed loudly at his question.

“Hahaha, refuse? Was that even an option?”

Refusal is not an option.

Jung Hyun-woo couldn’t help but narrow his brows.

‘I know JP Morgan is great, but this is too much.’

He thought that JP Morgan was trying to acquire Victoria Corporation by holding JP Services hostage.

‘Even if it means stopping JP Services in the worst case, I can’t let it be acquired at a bargain price.’

Of course, it was unlikely that JP Morgan would take the drastic measure of stopping JP Services. If they chose that, JP Morgan would also have to bear a loss of nearly ten million dollars.

“There are many possibilities in the world.”

“Maybe mathematically.”

Neal Hamilton was still confident in acquiring Victoria Corporation.

“Mr. President, Victoria Corporation is clearly a separate corporation.”

Meaning it’s not a company under JP Morgan’s control.

Of course, Neal Hamilton knew that very well. He took out his card without delay.

“Charlie, how about $100 million?”

Jung Hyun-woo clicked his tongue inwardly at Neal Hamilton’s unconventional offer.

‘Tsk, what JP Morgan was relying on wasn’t the hostage of JP Services, but a huge sum that couldn’t be refused?’

$100 million.

Based on 1983, it was 750 billion won [South Korean currency].

It was enough money to buy the entire 3rd-ranked company in terms of market capitalization in Korea.

‘If I only acquire the management rights, I can aim for the 1st and 2nd ranked groups in Korea. And if I take that money and invest in Microsoft….’

The current $100 million would soar to nearly $10 billion around the time of the IT bubble.

‘I could live as a billionaire for the rest of my life without working.’

Of course, Jung Hyun-woo did not choose $100 million.

“I refuse.”

Neal Hamilton was dumbfounded by his firm refusal.

“Hahaha, Charlie… Refusal? You don’t seem to know how much money $100 million is.”

“I know. It’s enough money to buy most IT companies.”

Neal Hamilton put his hands together and pulled his body forward.

“Charlie, $100 million is, well. It’s the kind of money that could make you the owner of the Boston Red Sox [a famous baseball team] if you wanted.”

Being able to become the owner of the Boston Red Sox.

He knew that Jung Hyun-woo lived in Boston and used the Boston Red Sox as an example.

Jung Hyun-woo knew that much too.

“But you can’t buy IBM or Warner Group.”

IBM and Warner Group were among the major companies in the United States.

The two companies could not be acquired with $100 million, let alone $1 billion.

Neal Hamilton stopped smiling when the two companies were mentioned and raised his voice.

“Do you think a company that just started its service has the same value as them?”

“I don’t think you’ve properly recognized the value of Victoria Corporation, Mr. President.”

Neal Hamilton’s face hardened slightly.

“I haven’t properly recognized Charlie’s company?”

Jung Hyun-woo nodded.

“Victoria Corporation’s assets are already $50 million. That’s half of the amount you offered. So you’re only offering $50 million for Victoria Corporation’s future. I think Victoria Corporation’s future is worth more than that.”

He calculated that he couldn’t hand over Victoria Corporation’s potential for the amount of $50 million.

Neal Hamilton lightly tapped the desk.

Tap!

“I admit it. I didn’t confirm that your company has $50 million.”

He coolly admitted his mistake.

“Then how about $200 million?”

$200 million.

10% of the inheritance amount of the legendary heiress Aria Walton.

$200 million was a huge amount of money that could allow you to enter mainstream society even in the United States.

“I will refuse this time as well.”

Neal Hamilton was not surprised. He could feel a strong conviction in Jung Hyun-woo’s eyes and attitude.

‘He’s not easy to deal with.’

He slightly raised his voice.

“The reason?”

“JP Services has 1 million potential subscribers. I think I can sign them all up within the next 5 months. If that happens, Victoria Corporation will be able to generate $15 million in sales every month.”

If monthly sales are $15 million, annual sales are $180 million.

In just one year, it reached close to the $200 million that Neal Hamilton mentioned.

“Sales are just sales.”

Meaning that the net profit excluding expenses would not be large.

Jung Hyun-woo did not back down despite his criticism.

“JP Services’ subscribers will continue to increase in the future.”

Neal Hamilton groaned softly at his words.

“Hmm, it will increase further.”

In fact, JP Morgan’s corporate analysis team had said the same thing.

‘If he even knows that fact, it won’t be easy.’

Jung Hyun-woo was a formidable opponent for his young age.

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