The Conglomerate Family Became A Villain [EN]: Chapter 74

74. A Long Day in LA (3)

The drive from Beverly Hills to Santa Monica.

Sarah glanced sideways.

‘He still looks upset.’

Jung Hyun-woo had harshly criticized the Plus4, showing a negative attitude toward collaboration, but soon regained his composure and decided to collaborate with Commodore.

However, his face still looked grim. Sarah thought the reason for his dark expression was Commodore’s new computer, the Plus4.

“Is the Plus4 such a bad computer?”

Jung Hyun-woo nodded in response.

“You could say it’s the worst computer.”

“The worst?”

“Mr. Bernard doesn’t seem to understand what kind of computer the Plus4 is.”

Sarah signaled and changed lanes.

“Surely not, it’s his company’s new product.”

“If he knew, he wouldn’t react like that.”

“Does that mean he’s not involved in this industry?”

“There are many types of CEOs.”

Sarah knew that much.

“Are you saying he’s a CEO with strengths in areas like securing funding or managing inventory?”

“Right now, all computer companies are struggling due to the Atari shock [the video game industry crash of 1983], so he might be someone specialized in restructuring or mergers.”

“Hmm, either way, he lacks knowledge about computers, right?”

Jung Hyun-woo nodded at her question.

“Actually, that’s the most important thing.”

The company’s CEO doesn’t know the performance and value of the company’s most important product. This was a blunder that could not be excused.

He raised his right hand in the warm California sunshine.

‘Tinting isn’t allowed in the US. It’s a shame at times like this.’

Unlike Korea, US car regulations did not allow window tinting.

“Still, you managed to hold back well.”

Jung Hyun-woo shrugged.

“What’s important is the 8-bit computer market that Commodore dominates.”

Sarah checked the sign and asked.

“But what exactly is lacking in the Plus4? Saying it’s the worst computer doesn’t really give me a clear picture.”

Jung Hyun-woo sighed briefly at her words.

“Haa, how should I put it? Well, the Commodore 64 and Plus4 are computers with different uses.”

Sarah trailed off at his explanation.

“Different uses, then…”

Jung Hyun-woo added as if to clarify.

“The Commodore 64 feels like a mix of a home game console and light programs, shall we say?”

The Commodore 64 was a computer that focused on games but also allowed for various programming. On the other hand, the Plus4 had a completely different character.

“I understand the Commodore 64. What can’t the Plus4 do? Games? Programming?”

Jung Hyun-woo replied briefly.

“Games.”

Sarah was shocked by his answer.

“It can’t do games? That’s like removing Commodore’s main feature!”

If the programming function was lacking, they could have emphasized the enhanced gaming features, but if the gaming performance was poor, there was no way to persuade customers.

‘As of 1984, the most important function of a home 8-bit computer is games.’

Jung Hyun-woo raised his voice slightly.

“I told you, Mr. Bernard doesn’t seem to understand the Plus4.”

Commodore fought against Atari, the absolute powerhouse in the North American game market, based on the Commodore 64’s powerful gaming capabilities. And the clash of these two giants led to the Atari shock.

“Then the Plus4 doesn’t have any advantages at all?”

Sarah didn’t believe that Commodore would release a computer with no advantages as a new product.

‘There must be something.’

Jung Hyun-woo lowered the sun visor and said.

“From what I’ve seen briefly, it seemed to have excellent text processing capabilities.”

“Text?”

“You could say it has strengths in programming or document work.”

Sarah sighed deeply.

“Hoo… Is it okay to bundle our JP service with that Plus4 and sell it?”

There was no benefit to having JP service packaged with the doomed Plus4.

“It’s okay.”

“It’s okay?”

Jung Hyun-woo stared straight ahead and replied.

“The Commodore series has already sold a lot.”

Sarah realized what he was aiming for.

“Ah! You’re saying we should give up on this package deal and focus on customers who already own the Commodore series.”

She and Jung Hyun-woo had talked about the massive sales of the Commodore series on their way to Beverly Hills.

“Think of the package deal with the Plus4 as a way to improve the compatibility of JP service.”

Jung Hyun-woo had no expectations for the Plus4.

‘Even if the Plus4 completely fails, there are already tens of millions of Commodore series units sold. We just need to focus on that.’

What mattered was expanding JP service subscribers, not selling the package deal.

“So, you’re saying Commodore is okay for now, but it’s a company without a future.”

“I’m going to look for the future at CES (Consumer Electronics Show) [an annual trade show for consumer electronics] .”

Commodore has no future.

Sarah agreed with his words.

“I don’t know what the Commodore board of directors was thinking, but appointing Luke Bernard as CEO is likely to be a complete failure, right?”

“I think so.”

Jung Hyun-woo found the biggest reason for Commodore’s non-existence in the 21st century in the wrong CEO change.

‘Commodore’s fate went wrong from here.’

He even knew that new PC manufacturers like Dell and Compaq would fill Commodore’s void.

“Sarah, you said the next meeting is in Santa Monica, right?”

Sarah stepped on the accelerator and replied.

“Even if it’s Santa Monica, you won’t have time to look at the beach girls.”

Jung Hyun-woo shrugged as she sped up.

“It doesn’t matter since there’s a beautiful lady next to me.”

Sarah chuckled and took his joke.

“Are you okay with that beautiful lady being your older sister?”

Jung Hyun-woo responded to her words in a bright voice, as if freed from the Plus4.

“In the military, soldiers with beautiful older sisters are the most popular.”

“Oh, Charlie is telling military stories. But how does Charlie know about military stories?”

Jung Hyun-woo couldn’t help but scratch his head.

“I saw it in a magazine.”

As soon as the word magazine came out, Sarah raised her voice slightly.

“Come to think of it, didn’t you say you saw a story about a new computer company in a magazine?”

“Dell, you mean?”

“Yes, Dell Computer. How is that company?”

“It looks 괜찮아 [gwaenchanha – Korean for ‘okay’ or ‘promising’], but I don’t know yet.”

It would be great if I could invest in Dell Computer now. But the world wasn’t that easy.

‘First of all, I don’t even know who created Dell Computer.’

Dell Computer’s founder, Michael Dell, was quite famous in the IT industry. However, he wasn’t as famous as Bill Gates or Steve Jobs.

“Should I have Robert look into it?”

“Will he have time?”

“If he has time.”

“It would be better to have another employee do it.”

Robert was one of the busiest people at Victoria Corporation.

Sarah checked the sign indicating the highway interchange and sighed softly.

“Hoo… Charlie, I’m sorry. I scheduled so many meetings from your first day here.”

There were three meetings scheduled for today alone. And all three of them could determine the future of the company.

‘If possible, I would have postponed one of them.’

Jung Hyun-woo responded to her words in a bright voice, as if he wasn’t tired.

“It’s okay. If we solve all three today, we can comfortably watch CES.”

The reason he flew to LA instead of Boston was because of CES, which was held every January in Las Vegas. As long as he worked in the IT industry, he couldn’t just skip CES.

Moreover, innovative products were released every year at CES in the 1980s. He thought it was very important to check it out.

“Sarah, what company are we meeting with next?”

He had only asked about the meeting location earlier.

“Bank of America.”

Bank of America was one of the world’s top three banks and a strong rival of JP Morgan.

Jung Hyun-woo whistled long when he learned that the next meeting was with Bank of America.

“Hoo, they’re an even tougher opponent than Commodore.”

Sarah knew very well that Bank of America was a formidable opponent.

‘If they weren’t a tough opponent, I would have handled it myself.’

She turned the steering wheel and said.

“I don’t know the details either. They asked to keep the contents secret until the meeting.”

Jung Hyun-woo thought he could guess the contents to some extent, given who the meeting partner was.

‘The meeting topic is obviously JP service.’

He wanted to organize the cards they could use in his head before arriving in Santa Monica.

* * *

LA Santa Monica Le Méridien Hotel.

Le Méridien is a French hotel group that started in Paris, specializing in 5-star luxury hotels. However, the perception of Le Méridien Hotel in South Korea was not very good.

The reason was that the Club Red Sun incident, which caused a stir in South Korea, took place in the basement of the Gangnam Le Méridien Hotel.

The Gangnam Le Méridien Hotel suffered a fatal blow to its image as a luxury hotel due to this incident and eventually closed down.

But as of January 1984.

All the events mentioned above were stories of the future that had not yet happened. And Jung Hyun-woo and Sarah were standing on the terrace of the Le Méridien Hotel, overlooking Santa Monica Beach.

“Ms. Hilton, Mr. Jung, it’s an honor to meet you.”

The man with his suit collar turned up was Tony Allen, head of strategic planning at Bank of America, and the red-haired beauty next to him was his secretary, Lyra Marin.

“Hello.”

“How do you do?”

Sarah and Jung Hyun-woo greeted them and sat opposite them. He checked that there were no customers around and tilted his head.

‘Hmm, are there no customers because it’s the off-season?’

Lyra Marin smiled softly after noticing his gaze.

“Mr. Jung, don’t worry. We bought all the tables on the terrace.”

Should I say that the scale is like Bank of America?

‘They’re about to buy the world with money.’

As explained earlier, Bank of America was competing with JP Morgan and Citibank for the top spot in the world.

Sarah calmly started the conversation without being shaken by Lyra Marin’s words.

“The reason Bank of America wanted to meet us is probably because of JP service, right?”

She, like Jung Hyun-woo, expected today’s topic to be JP service.

Tony Allen did not deny her words.

“We are paying attention to JP service, which has one million subscribers.”

As of January 1984, the number of JP service subscribers had well exceeded one million. As a result, Victoria Corporation’s sales and performance were also rapidly increasing.

Victoria Corporation’s COO Robert even appeared on TV shows and openly said that Victoria Corporation’s value was $1 billion.

Of course, not many people took his remarks seriously.

“Then what does Bank of America want from our Victoria? Are you perhaps going to invest in our company? Or do you want a system like JP service?”

Sarah and Jung Hyun-woo thought that Bank of America wanted the latter.

‘Bank of America’s goal is to start a service similar to JP service.’

Tony Allen raised his voice with a slightly exaggerated smile.

“Can’t it be both?”

Both meant that they would build a system like JP service and buy Victoria Corporation at the same time.

Jung Hyun-woo frowned at his answer.

‘Bank of America’s attempt to buy Victoria Corporation may be to stop JP service.’

Just starting a similar service to the opponent would not give them an advantage, so they wanted to shut down the competitor’s service altogether.

‘Bank of America seems to think they can solve everything with money.’

He felt a sense of repulsion towards Bank of America’s money-is-everything attitude.

“Are you saying you want to acquire Victoria Corporation and make it a company for Bank of America?”

Jung Hyun-woo’s question was sharp.

Tony Allen answered his question in a soft voice.

“Mr. Jung, I think there’s a misunderstanding. We’re not saying we’ll make Victoria Corporation a company for Bank of America. It’s just that Victoria Corporation’s partner is changing from JP Morgan to Bank of America. I think this is like a Major League superstar changing teams with a free agent contract.”

When a superstar comes out as a free agent, the best card to sign that player is money.

Jung Hyun-woo clicked his tongue inwardly.

‘Tsk, even if you beat around the bush, you’re still saying you’ll solve it with money.’

This time, Sarah raised her right hand.

“Mr. Allen, we are under contract with JP Morgan. I think changing partners in the middle of a contract is an act of bad faith.”

Even if Bank of America wanted it, the superstar still couldn’t move teams. However, Tony Allen spread his hands as if there was no problem at all.

“Ms. Hilton, we have enough money prepared for the penalty.”

He was saying that Bank of America would pay all penalties incurred for breach of contract with JP Morgan. Sarah’s voice rose in an instant.

“Mr. Allen, can you take responsibility for that statement?”

She thought the statement was beyond Tony Allen’s authority.

‘That statement… Even if the strategic planning department is Bank of America’s core department, it’s not something a department head can say.’

Tony Allen was not at all intimidated by her sharp question.

“Responsibility… Ms. Hilton, I have been given full authority for this negotiation.”

He had been granted full authority from Bank of America.

Sarah couldn’t help but narrow her brows.

‘Could it be that this man is the real power behind Bank of America?’

It was natural for her to doubt Tony Allen’s identity. He was even younger than Peter Lynch, Wall Street’s young hero.

“Full authority?”

Tony Allen nodded and replied.

“That’s right.”

Jung Hyun-woo also doubted his identity.

‘A strategic planning department head with full authority. He’s probably not from the family of major shareholders, so is he perhaps affiliated with a large private equity fund?’

Bank of America’s management rights were jointly owned by several private equity funds and investment groups, not a powerful family like JP Morgan. If he was a key figure in a private equity fund, he could be granted full authority even as the head of strategic planning.

“Are you saying you have the full authority to carry out everything you said earlier?”

“You can think of it that way.”

Jung Hyun-woo intervened between Sarah and Tony Allen and said.

“Mr. Allen, please tell us exactly what Bank of America’s intentions are. Do you want to invest in Victoria Corporation? Or do you want to own it outright?”

A smile formed on Tony Allen’s lips.

“It’s closer to the latter.”

Jung Hyun-woo unfolded his furrowed brow and raised his voice.

“If it’s the latter, it will be very expensive, you know?”

“We don’t lack money.”

“Can I believe that?”

Tony Allen replied with a relaxed attitude.

“Of course.”

Always a relaxed attitude.

How much money have they prepared to be like that?

Sarah wanted to test Bank of America’s financial power.

“Victoria Corporation’s value is over $1 billion.”

Tony Allen responded to her words with a confident voice.

“I think $1 billion for JP service is cheap.”

$1 billion.

As of 1984, a company with a market capitalization of $1 billion could be ranked in the top 100 on the US New York Stock Exchange.

Jung Hyun-woo thought as he listened to Tony Allen’s words.

‘The money Bank of America has prepared for the acquisition of Victoria Corporation is probably around $1 billion.’

Corporate acquisitions usually involve acquiring more than 50% of the company’s shares, that is, only management rights, rather than acquiring 100% of the company’s shares.

If they had prepared $1 billion, they could sufficiently acquire management rights even if they calculated the company’s value at $2 billion.

Sarah asked again.

“If $1 billion is cheap, how much can you spend?”

It was the most important question in today’s conversation.

Tony Allen finally wiped the smile off his face. He lowered his voice and asked her back.

“How much is Ms. Hilton asking for?”

Depending on her answer, this deal could be established or go wrong.

“I can’t answer that question.”

“Is it because you’ve never thought about the amount you want?”

“No. Because Charlie has a bigger stake than me.”

At those words, Tony Allen’s gaze turned to Jung Hyun-woo.

“Mr. Jung, do you have an amount you want?”

Jung Hyun-woo replied in a calm voice.

“When JP Morgan asked the same question, I said $1 billion.”

Tony Allen’s face brightened in an instant.

“Then…”

Jung Hyun-woo cut him off and said.

“But that answer was given when JP service was just starting.”

He was saying that the amount he had in mind before it became as successful as it is now was $1 billion.

‘Keuk, he’s saying he’s thinking of a bigger amount now.’

Tony Allen’s voice trembled slightly.

“So how much are you thinking of now?”

No matter how much Bank of America was, they couldn’t spend money indefinitely. The amount he was allowed was fixed.

Instead of answering his question, Jung Hyun-woo asked a question.

“Do we have to talk about it first?”

He was saying that since they had revealed the past suggested amount of $1 billion, Bank of America should suggest it first.

Tony Allen took a deep breath inwardly at his question.

‘Hoo… He’s being difficult.’

He put both hands on the table and said.

“Since the amounts on both sides never match from the beginning, I will suggest the amount first. Bank of America has calculated Victoria Corporation’s value at $2 billion.”

If the acquisition stake was 50%, the acquisition funds prepared by Bank of America were exactly $1 billion.

“The difference between us is big.”

At Jung Hyun-woo’s words, Tony Allen narrowed his brows. The composure that had been overflowing all along was now nowhere to be seen.

“Mr. Jung! How much are you thinking of that the difference is so big?”

Jung Hyun-woo made eye contact with him and replied.

“We are thinking of $10 billion.”

“Crazy!”

A word that came out without going through the brain.

Jung Hyun-woo calmly took the words even though he had uttered profanity.

“We are not crazy.”

He was saying that he was seriously talking about $10 billion.

Tony Allen thought that no matter how he calculated it, Victoria Corporation’s value was not $10 billion.

‘If it’s $10 billion, it’s in the top 50 in terms of market capitalization, not in the US, but in the world.’

As of 1984, Philip Morris could be cited as a company with a market capitalization close to $10 billion. Philip Morris was a global tobacco company in the United States and the owner of the famous Marlboro.

“You’re saying you have no intention of negotiating with us at all!”

“Is that so?”

Lyra Marin felt that Jung Hyun-woo’s one word was as cold as ice.

‘It’s not that he has no intention of negotiating. This person is serious.’

She concluded that Tony Allen could not handle Jung Hyun-woo.