The Conglomerate Family Became A Villain [EN]: Chapter 83

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To monopolize Wall Street.

If successful, nothing could be better.

However, Robert frowned.

‘Even collaborating with Bank of America is this difficult, and now monopolizing Wall Street? That’s a difficult, no, an impossible story.’

Chung Hyun-woo said emphatically,

“Robert, we have many advantages.”

“Technological superiority, you mean?”

Robert didn’t deny Victoria Corporation’s technological advantages. But he didn’t think that alone would be enough to fight and win against the giants of Wall Street.

‘What moves Wall Street isn’t technology, but money. And to beat their money, you sometimes need more than that.’

To fight Wall Street, it was necessary to join hands not only with large-scale capital but also with political power. But Victoria Corporation had neither.

Chung Hyun-woo was also aware that their power was insufficient. Nevertheless, he wanted to confront Wall Street head-on.

“Robert, we were the first in the world to develop and service JP Service. This is like Disney releasing Mickey Mouse to the world for the first time.”

Disney built a vast content empire based on Mickey Mouse. And they even changed America’s patent laws to maintain that power.

Chung Hyun-woo believed that if they could overcome this hurdle, Victoria Corporation could become like Disney.

“Are you saying we can be like Disney too?”

“Robert, do you think it’s impossible?”

Robert lowered his voice in response to his question.

“Charlie, I understand what you’re saying. But JPMorgan… no, Wall Street will never allow our monopoly.”

Sarah had been quietly listening to Robert and Chung Hyun-woo’s conversation.

‘There’s no room for me to intervene.’

On the table, Chung Hyun-woo’s dreams and Robert’s reality were clashing.

“Even if they don’t allow it, we have to make it happen. Robert, this fight isn’t just between companies. It’s a fight between those who want to move towards the future and those who want to settle for the present.”

Robert shook his head.

“I acknowledge the excellence of JP Service. But if JP Service is the future of Wall Street, I think that’s a leap.”

He didn’t think JP Service was as essential as water or air.

‘JPMorgan can abandon JP Service at any time.’

JP Service provided convenience to those trading stocks. But that convenience wasn’t a weapon strong enough for JPMorgan to compromise its pride.

“If JP Service doesn’t change significantly from now, my story will be a leap, as Robert says. But JP Service will evolve.”

The evolution of JP Service.

At those words, Robert frowned.

“I’ve heard that JP Service will provide more information. But that alone is not enough.”

“What if JP Service doesn’t end with providing information?”

“Doesn’t end with providing information?”

Chung Hyun-woo nodded in response.

“Stock information is already provided by Volume Bug. We’re going to do more than that.”

Volume Bug had amassed great wealth by quickly providing stock information to investors in the 1980s. In 1984, that process was underway.

“More than that? Charlie, what on earth are you thinking?”

Chung Hyun-woo had already experienced the 21st-century financial market. He had seen with his own eyes how the internet had changed the world and how much smartphones had narrowed the world.

“Robert, in the not-too-distant future, people will be able to buy and sell stocks with JP Service.”

Robert froze at Chung Hyun-woo’s words.

“B-Buy and sell stocks?”

His plan surprised even Sarah.

‘Trade stocks with JP Service? Would the brokerage firms… no, would the New York Stock Exchange allow that?’

Chung Hyun-woo received his words with an unwavering voice.

“Sooner in 10 years, later in 20 years, such a system will be established. This is why we must protect JP Service.”

If, as he said, stocks could be bought and sold from home with a computer, it would be a revolution.

‘If you can buy and sell stocks from home, you don’t need a brokerage store.’

The furrows on Robert’s brow deepened.

‘Is this why Bank of America and JPMorgan are obsessed with Victoria Corporation?’

If stock trading through computers became possible at home, the brokerage firm that preempted it could generate astronomical profits.

‘It’s not just about increasing profits. American investors will rush to create accounts with the brokerage firm that has that system.’

He now realized why huge capital like Bank of America and JPMorgan were targeting Victoria Corporation.

‘If that’s possible… even $2 billion is a bargain, as Charlie says.’

Robert sighed deeply inside.

‘Hoo… his innate talent is different.’

In the Atari days, he showed function design and coding skills that overwhelmed his colleagues, and some employees even called him a binary genius.

But the real genius was someone else.

‘The real genius isn’t someone with great calculation skills or memorization skills. The one who sees what others don’t see is the real genius.’

Since what he was seeing was different, his thoughts were bound to be different as well. He thought Chung Hyun-woo was the real genius.

“Charlie, is it really possible?”

Chung Hyun-woo answered emphatically.

“It is possible.”

Robert unfolded his narrowed brow.

“If existing stock trading becomes possible through JP Service, we will have to fight even if the opponent is not JPMorgan but God.”

He agreed with Chung Hyun-woo’s opinion and announced that he would fight together.

Soon, Sarah, who had been silent, opened her mouth.

“It seems like opinions have been somewhat coordinated.”

Robert nodded and received her words.

“If it goes as Charlie says, we can really dominate Wall Street.”

Sarah asked in a soft voice.

“The process won’t be easy, will it?”

Robert nodded at her question.

“Of course.”

He thought that even greater difficulties than the current ones could arise.

‘But I can’t give up.’

This kind of opportunity doesn’t come to just anyone.

The chosen few.

It was an opportunity given only to them.

* * *

Neil Hamilton frowned at Sean Luke’s report.

“The conclusion is failure, isn’t it?”

Sean Luke did not bow his head deeply despite Neil Hamilton’s rebuke.

“If I tell you the conclusion, that’s right. But I succeeded in persuading Mr. Bernard.”

Neil Hamilton’s voice cracked.

“What are you talking about? Didn’t you just say that he didn’t agree to create a second Victoria Corporation?”

“Mr. Bernard also did not agree to create a second Victoria Corporation, but he did say that there was a problem with Mr. Chung’s actions.”

Neil Hamilton leaned back in his chair.

“Hmm, Mr. Bernard will stop Mr. Chung and Bank of America… you’re thinking that way, aren’t you?”

At his question, Sean Luke nodded.

“Mr. Bernard is in charge of the actual management of Victoria Corporation. If he opposes it, even if Mr. Chung insists, the deal with Bank of America will not be established.”

Neil Hamilton listened to his explanation and took out a cigar from the box.

“Can you be sure?”

His voice was full of doubt.

“Mr. Bernard is a reliable man.”

“What if he betrays us?”

“We are preparing Plan B in case that happens.”

Neil Hamilton cut the end of the cigar.

Tock.

“Plan B?”

Sean Luke had considerable confidence in Plan B.

“Mr. Hamilton, there is a developer named John River in the New York branch.”

“The New York branch… you mean the Victoria Corporation office?”

“That’s right.”

Neil Hamilton lit the cigar.

Cheek.

With a short sound, the cigar began to burn.

“He can replace Mr. Bernard?”

“John River will not be able to completely replace Mr. Bernard. But if he is there, he will be able to replicate JP Service.”

Neil Hamilton said, exhaling cigar smoke.

“Hoo… you mean we can’t replicate Victoria Corporation, but we can replicate the program.”

He realized what Sean Luke was drawing.

‘The idea is that we will take over the operation of the company, and that guy will take out Victoria Corporation’s technology.’

With JPMorgan’s power and connections, they could recruit talent who had managed IT companies as much as they wanted.

‘If you have the technology, filling people with money is nothing.’

He assessed that Sean Luke’s Plan B seemed 괜찮은 [gyeong-chanheun – Korean for ‘okay’ or ‘decent’].

“When are you going to start Plan B?”

Sean Luke bowed his head and answered.

“I have a meeting with John River tonight.”

“That’s fast.”

“If Mr. Bernard fails, we will prepare to activate Plan B immediately.”

Neil Hamilton liked his quick movements.

‘Sean knows that our necks are on the line for this, too.’

He lowered the cigar and said.

“Sean, if you handle this well, we will be promoted together. But if you fail…”

“Are you saying we have to take off our clothes together?” [Figurative speech for losing their jobs.]

“That’s right.”

Sean Luke said emphatically.

“Mr. Hamilton, Edmund will not be laughing.”

Edmund Norman was the head of JPMorgan’s banking division and a rival to Neil Hamilton, the head of investment banking.

If this project fails and Victoria Corporation joins hands with Bank of America, Edmund Norman is likely to succeed Arthur Morgan as chairman of the group.

‘I can’t fall with you.’

His goal was not promotion but to swallow JPMorgan whole. A person who wants to swallow JPMorgan could not collapse because of this.

Neil Hamilton turned his gaze out the window. In the distance, the sun was setting in the west.

“Sean, Mr. Morgan’s era is not much left.”

Human lifespan had limits. Even if Arthur Morgan lived longer than others, he had at most ten years left.

‘Mr. Hamilton, your time is the same.’

Sean Luke bowed his head as if to hide his burning ambition.

“Mr. Hamilton, I’ll go.”

“Proceed without mistakes.”

“Leave it to me.”

Sean Luke was planning to grill John River at a top-class restaurant tonight.

* * *

The meeting between Chung Hyun-woo, Sarah, and Robert did not end in an hour or two. The clock was already pointing to midnight.

“Are you saying that we need to present a realistic solution to persuade JPMorgan?”

Robert nodded.

“The opponent is JPMorgan. A clumsy condition like a royalty cut will not work.”

Sarah frowned at his words.

“Robert, the problem is that there is no realistic alternative other than that.”

Robert wrote something in his notebook and told his thoughts.

“Charlie, you have to give JPMorgan special merit as well as options. The reason they are angry is because we unilaterally imposed conditions.”

Chung Hyun-woo put his hands together and supported his chin.

“What kind of options are there?”

“Give them shares, or let them choose between shares and royalties or something else.”

Robert was ready to fight any enemy, but he wanted to end this matter with negotiations first.

‘The less blood shed, the better.’

He was the type to choose that side if there was a way to avoid war.

“We can’t give a lot of shares.”

Chung Hyun-woo thought that he had to protect the shares in any case.

Robert also knew that he had no intention of giving up a large amount of shares.

“How much can you give?”

“Isn’t 3% the limit?”

“3%…”

He thought it was unlikely that JPMorgan would move. But 3% was not a small amount for Chung Hyun-woo either. If Victoria Corporation grows into a company worth more than $10 billion, 3% of the shares alone would be $30 million.

“Do you think it’s too little?”

Robert nodded.

“How about 10%?”

Let’s appease JPMorgan’s anger with 10% of Victoria Corporation’s shares.

Chung Hyun-woo sighed deeply.

“Hoo…”

This sigh meant that he could not accept the number 10%. He turned his gaze to Sarah and said.

“I heard that angry Kongs are soothed by beautiful women… Sarah, can’t you do something?” [Referring to King Kong, implying JPMorgan is a powerful, angry beast.]

A joke to soothe JPMorgan, the Kong, with her beauty.

Sarah stuck out her tongue.

“Charlie, even if you flatter me here, there’s no special way.”

“Is it difficult for the Hilton family to mediate?”

Sarah answered with a serious face.

“Charlie, we have to do it with our own strength.”

Chung Hyun-woo put his hands together.

“I know.”

He wanted to refrain from asking someone for help after Aria Walton’s incident. Nevertheless, the reason he said that to Sarah was that the situation was so frustrating.

‘Should I just fight?’

Join hands with Bank of America and head to a lawsuit.

‘Tsk, that’s just going to be a mess.’

If he goes into a lawsuit with JPMorgan, the problem was not the cost, but the time. The lawsuit with them could take a few years if short, and up to 10 years if long.

‘In 10 years, another program will have been developed.’

It was best to end without fighting.

Chung Hyun-woo raised his right hand and asked the two.

“How about this?”

“What story is it?”

“Give JPMorgan technical merit.”

“Technical merit…”

“Differentiate the updates of JP Service.”

Sarah tilted her head at his words.

“What kind of differentiation are you talking about? Content? Or date?”

“Date.”

Chung Hyun-woo wanted to give JPMorgan an advantage by adjusting the update speed of JP Service.

Robert thought it was not a bad idea.

“Hmm, you’re saying to give JP Service the latest technology first.”

“How is it?”

“I think it’s 괜찮은 [gyeong-chanheun – Korean for ‘okay’ or ‘decent’]. If there is a function that is provided to JP Service first, JPMorgan’s competitiveness will still be maintained.”

The moment Robert agreed, Sarah shook her head.

“It’s not always a good opinion.”

Robert and Chung Hyun-woo.

The two turned their gaze to her.

“Sarah?”

“Is there something bad about it?”

Sarah sighed briefly and answered.

“Hoo… Let’s say we provide faster updates to JPMorgan. Bank of America might accept it. But what happens when the number of companies we have to serve increases? Will Citibank or Goldman Sachs accept JPMorgan’s superiority? What about Morgan Stanley? They won’t like JPMorgan’s technical superiority.”

Robert groaned lowly at her answer.

“Ugh, Sarah’s words make sense. There is a possibility that not all companies will recognize JPMorgan’s superiority.”

Chung Hyun-woo also knew the weakness she mentioned. But since he couldn’t think of a good way, he wanted to present the timing of the update as a carrot.

“It’s difficult.”

It was the moment Sarah nodded at his words.

Tock. Tock. Tock.

Someone was knocking on the door from outside.

“Who is it?”

Sarah turned her head and asked, and a woman answered from outside.

“It’s a call for Mr. Chung.”

Chung Hyun-woo got up from his seat right away.

“Sarah, Robert, let’s have a meeting again after the phone call.”

The two nodded at his words.

“Go ahead.”

“Charlie, come back.”

Chung Hyun-woo thought as he left the conference room.

‘Who on earth is it at this hour?’

The clock in the conference room was pointing to 1 a.m. when he came out of the door.

“I switched the phone.”

“Charlie, it’s me.”

The one who called Chung Hyun-woo was John River from the New York branch.

“John?”

He couldn’t help but narrow his brows.

‘Has JPMorgan already executed Plan B?’

JPMorgan’s movements were faster than expected.

‘They’re giants, but they’re fast too.’

He decided to listen to John River’s story first.