The Genius Grandson Of The Cash King Becomes A Tycoon [EN]: Chapter 28

#028

The phone rang a little after six, the call I had been waiting for.

“Jeong-hoon, it’s me.”

“Yes.”

“Whew, sorry for calling so late. You must have thought I ran away.”

“A little.”

“Haha, you. It was quite complicated because it’s been tied up for so long.”

“Yes.”

“I’ll tell you the specifics in Korea. First, the most important thing is the money…”

“Yes.”

Jeong-hoon swallowed nervously.

“How much do you think there is?”

“Uncle.”

Jeong-hoon, who had been very nervous, raised his voice without realizing it.

“You’re curious, aren’t you?”

“Hoo, no, I was just wondering what my father left behind, not really curious about the money.”

Jeong-hoon made a weak excuse.

He was dying of curiosity.

How much his father had left.

What form it was in.

“One hundred.”

“Yes? A million dollars?”

One billion won [approximately $850,000 USD at the time]. Jeong-hoon was slightly disappointed.

“No.”

“Ten billion won?”

“Yes, exactly 11.525 billion… just 11.5 billion [approximately $9.8 million USD]. Hyun-joong left it in gold, U.S. Treasury bonds, dollars, and stocks. That’s why it took some time to liquidate. And there’s a 10% commission when withdrawing, so it’s 10.35 billion won [approximately $8.8 million USD]. I sent it to the paper company earlier. Now you can wire it to the U.S.”

“Thank you. You’ve worked hard.”

“What hard work? I’m getting paid for it.”

“Yes.”

“I’m flying back to Korea tonight.”

“You can rest a bit before coming. You must be tired.”

“No, I wish I could take a plane right now, but I’m holding back.”

“Yes. Then be careful.”

“Okay. See you tomorrow.”

The next day, Im Cheol-soo came to the house in the evening.

He seemed energetic, despite the tight schedule and long flight.

Having heard of his visit, the grandmother prepared a large dinner for her son’s old friend.

They enjoyed a delicious meal in a cheerful atmosphere.

Eun-soo and the grandmother watched a daily drama, dissecting the villains in the show in various ways.

Jeong-hoon and Cheol-soo, watching them like a close mother and daughter, quietly got up and went into the room.

“Whew, that was a good meal. I was a little worried, but thankfully…”

His voice was pleasant.

“Yes?”

“I was worried about your mother, I mean, your grandmother’s cooking skills. I was worried she’d cook herself, hahaha.”

“Ah, I’ve already experienced that once…”

“Yes. Really glad, whew.”

Jeong-hoon was also nervous about whether his grandmother’s cooking would come out.

Fortunately, everyone enjoyed a pleasant dinner with the neat and tidy dishes prepared by the housekeeper, Go Seong-daek.

Im Cheol-soo took out documents and a laptop from his bag.

“First, let’s log into the paper company we set up in Macau.”

An old browser caught his eye.

“Oh, you use Netscape. Most Koreans only use Internet Explorer.”

“Do you know this?”

“No. I just tried it out of curiosity.”

“Really? I use this because it’s fast and secure, but it’s not very convenient to use in Korea. This country is all based on Explorer. I’ll change it soon. It’s too inconvenient.”

Netscape, a popular browser in the early days of the internet.

Most people used this browser.

However, it lost its competitiveness due to the growth and convenience of Windows Explorer and was eventually phased out.

Jeong-hoon was lost in old thoughts.

“Look here, this is the account. Can you see the amount? It’s in dollars now.”

“8.48 million dollars… 10 billion won.”

10 billion won!

Jeong-hoon could only blink his eyes.

The numbers on the monitor screen did not convey the weight of reality.

But gradually, the weight of the money began to sink in.

An amount he could never have dreamed of.

The dream of everyone.

Even if he did nothing, money would start to accumulate.

He felt a thrill, like electricity running through his body.

“Hoo, Uncle, why don’t you run away with this money? You could live comfortably for the rest of your life.”

“Pfft, you underestimate me too much. My goal is 1 trillion won [approximately $850 million USD], 1 trillion.”

“Oops.”

Jeong-hoon hurriedly covered his mouth to hold back the laughter.

Im Cheol-soo, with a slightly embarrassed face, continued firmly.

“You might be a bit like that now… but you’ll do well in the future and make a lot of money, so isn’t 10 billion won too little?”

“Ah, yes. If you think about it that way, 10 billion won is a small amount. You’re so skilled, Uncle, you’ll soon be able to make several thousand billion, if not 1 trillion won.”

He thought of his interview article from his past life.

A legendary rate of return. But he remembered that his assets were around 500 billion won [approximately $425 million USD], not 1 trillion.

The Midas touch that turned 10 million won [approximately $8,500 USD] into 500 billion won.

Of course, he was managing tens of trillions of won.

In the interview, he recommended the U.S. stock market.

Especially direct investment in U.S. stocks.

For him, who had made most of his money in the U.S., it was an El Dorado full of gold.

“Oh, this young master, billions are nothing to you? It’s not easy to collect that money. The minimum wage is probably less than 2,000 won [approximately $1.70 USD at the time]? To earn 100 million won [approximately $85,000 USD], you have to work 50,000 hours without rest. You have to work for 6 years without sleeping to earn more than 100 million won. Well, you still don’t get it, do you?”

Jeong-hoon didn’t answer and just smiled faintly.

‘How could that be? How hard did I work like a dog to save 100 million won in my past life?’

He got a decent job, worked hard, and lived like a beggar, not spending or wearing anything.

With that effort, he barely saved 70 million won [approximately $59,500 USD] in 3 years.

“Uncle, what companies are worth investing in in the U.S.?”

“I was just about to talk about that.”

Jeong-hoon’s eyes sparkled with anticipation, and Im Cheol-soo, seeing his face, began to speak excitedly.

“First of all, the most attractive thing right now is IT companies. The stock prices have fallen a lot. They will definitely rebound around next year.”

No, they still have to fall further.

There was always a basement under the floor.

This bubble will only end after more than 90% of dot-com companies close down.

The IT bubble burst lasted from mid-2000 to 2002.

A stock that was $100 at the top of the bubble will seem cheap at $60-$70.

Until the early 2000s, most dot-com companies did not make a profit.

He was sure that they would lay golden eggs someday.

But the companies that enjoy the golden age are only the ones that survive.

Only those who survive, such as Amazon, Apple, and Netflix, will taste the joy.

Most of the others went bankrupt without a sound.

He still had to wait longer.

Soon, Amazon’s stock, which had approached $100, will fall below $10.

That’s when he had to pick it up.

It was time to wait longer.

“Uncle, how about Apple?”

“Oh, you know Apple too? It was doing well and then suddenly went down. I wonder how much it is these days?”

“Is the atmosphere not good these days?”

“There are rumors that they’re going bankrupt soon.”

“Will they really go bankrupt?”

“I don’t know. Just a moment, today’s stock price…”

Cheol-soo’s eyes widened as he checked the stock price online.

“$0.2”

He had a troubled look.

“What are you thinking?”

“It’s too cheap? I want to buy it.”

“Why buy that?”

“It’s cheap. Jobs is back [Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997], and Jonathan Ive is playing a leading role in the design. It will definitely take off soon.”

“Well, it might take off. The important thing is when it will take off.”

Apple’s stock rebounded after the iPod came out.

No one is paying attention yet.

“Jeong-hoon, it’s too cheap. Buy some of this. It will definitely go up several times.”

“Uncle. You should never bite just because it’s cheap.”

Jeong-hoon calmed the excited uncle with a firm voice.

Apple, the logo of a white apple with a bite taken out of it.

At first, it was rainbow-colored.

In the future, Apple will create an empire that no one can touch in the mobile world.

And an unbelievable operating profit margin of over 20 percent.

Stocks that will rise hundreds of times in just 10 years were right in front of him.

But the important thing is always timing.

If you buy this stock now, you won’t be able to do anything for the next 5 years.

You’ll just waste time.

It’s better to invest in Rote and Atlantic, which will increase 10 times next year.

This isn’t the only place to invest.

“Don’t get too excited and calm down. Let’s pay attention when it goes over $1.”

Jeong-hoon calmed him down with a slightly louder voice.

Cheol-soo, embarrassed, realized that he was too excited after hearing Jeong-hoon’s words.

He was ashamed of making a mistake that only a beginner would make.

He also thought Jeong-hoon, who was not shaken in this situation, was amazing.

“Okay. I was too excited. I’ll watch calmly. Now, let’s wire the money first, to the U.S. corporation.”

It didn’t take even 10 seconds for the money to go to the United States.

“It’s amazing. Sending money like this at once.”

“Right? Maybe in the future, everything will be done online.”

“I think so. It’s so convenient, who wouldn’t use it?”

Convenient remittance.

Then, a legendary company came to Jeong-hoon’s mind.

The things that the founders of that company would do later.

The faces of those who would have a huge impact on the world were drawn one by one in front of him.

“Uncle, do you know any internet remittance companies in the U.S.?”

“No. I don’t know much about that. Should we look into it?”

“Yes. Please find out a little more.”

“Okay, I will.”

He carefully wrote down Jeong-hoon’s request.

He took his eyes off the monitor and looked at Jeong-hoon.

“So, how are we going to invest this?”

Jeong-hoon was lost in thought and didn’t hear him.

“Jeong-hoon.”

“Jeong-hoon.”

“Yes?”

“What are you thinking so hard about?”

Jeong-hoon’s eyes sparkled and the corners of his mouth went up.

“Uncle, do you want to go to America with me?”

Im Cheol-soo was flustered.

He hurriedly made a tired face.

“What? I just came from Macau yesterday. I’m exhausted. And America? Ugh, I have to take a plane for more than 12 hours…”

He pretended to be flustered and exaggerated.

But judging from the slight smile he wore, he didn’t seem to dislike it.

***

“Ladies and gentlemen, our plane will be landing soon. Please fasten your seat belts. Thank you.”

English with a strong Japanese accent flowed out.

After the captain’s announcement, the crew members moved and checked the belts.

Shortly after, with a thud, the huge plane landed safely on the runway.

“Our plane has landed at California’s Mineta San Jose International Airport… Thank you.”

Eun-soo, who had been unable to come to her senses due to the long flight and jet lag, unfastened her seat belt and stretched greatly.

David, who was sitting next to her, was still checking his to-do list while looking at documents.

His face still didn’t look bright.

He had not yet received a definite answer from the company that had made the investment proposal.

He thought it would be easy to invest due to the collapse of the IT bubble.

But surprisingly, they were not giving a clear answer.

It was difficult to judge whether it was a numbers game or whether they had so much money that they were not interested in investing.

Inevitably, he left in advance.

He felt like throwing money at the company and leaving if they refused.

Perhaps he would have to return without any results.

David’s first job, he was determined to make it a success no matter what.

Jeong-hoon looked at David, who was looking out the window with a stiff face.

He felt as much responsibility for this matter as he did.

Things in life rarely go as planned.

It might not work out well.

Of course, it would be good to be able to invest.

He could get at least 10 times the profit.

But more important is getting people.

The ultimate goal of this investment.

He and their friends.

That is at least thousands of times the profit and the cornerstone of the empire that Jeong-hoon is thinking of.

He must take a favorable position in the rapidly growing internet empire and the upcoming mobile world with them.

“Whew, I’m tired. How long has it been since I set foot on this land?”

“Uncle, are you tired?”

“Call me David now instead of Uncle. ‘Uncle’ makes me feel too old.”

“Yes.”

“But, aren’t you guys tired? I’m jealous, I used to be like that too.”

David envied Jeong-hoon and Eun-soo’s amazing resilience.

It was the same for Jeong-hoon.

The tired body of his late 30s was so much worse than now that it couldn’t even be compared.

He didn’t get tired with his amazing resilience.

The tireless, crazy stamina of a high school student was a huge advantage.

“Just a moment.”

David’s expression hardened.

The phone in his hand rang loudly.

The Silicon Valley Mafia, which will grow into a giant.

The plan to invest in ‘X.com’, a still unlisted company, depended on that phone.

The Genius Grandson of the Cash King Becomes a Tycoon.