Bang!
“Hey! What on earth are you talking about all of a sudden?”
Chairman Joo Kwang-sik slammed his glass down so hard it nearly shattered, his voice booming.
“2% of Sunyang Electronics shares? Do you even know the price difference? Forget the price, how am I supposed to gather 2% of those shares?”
“I know Sunyang Electronics closed at 227,000 won yesterday, and Daehyun Motors at 21,000 won.”
“And you still spout such nonsense? That’s a tenfold difference!”
This man still has a long way to go.
The value of an item varies from person to person. The price that most people accept and are willing to trade at is what we call the ‘market price.’
But if an item holds special meaning and value to an individual, pricing it at market value is foolish.
There are people who have paid ten times the market price for a mere 500,000 won porcelain, simply because it was an heirloom from their ancestors.
Stock prices are just market prices.
If I could take over the Sunyang Group, I’d be willing to pay ten times, no, even a hundred times the market price for Sunyang Electronics shares.
“Uncle, may I ask you one thing?”
He calmed his rough breathing without a word.
“Which company do you want, Sunyang Electronics or Daehyun Motors?”
”…”
His silence spoke volumes.
To him, the shares of Daehyun Motors are as valuable as Sunyang Electronics shares are to me in my quest to take over Sunyang Group.
To the average person, there’s a twentyfold difference, but not to us. For us, shares in our main company are the steps to the chairman’s seat.
“Nephew, the rumor that I’m acquiring Sunyang Card must have been quite helpful, right?”
Is he trying to take credit because he has nothing else to say?
“You used it as a diversion tactic, Uncle. Our interests just happened to align.”
“So you’re saying let’s call it even, huh? Fine. But twenty times is too much.”
“What about Chairman Joo Tae-sik, your brother? Would he think twenty times is too expensive?”
There’s no need to think. To solidify his control, he wouldn’t care about the price. And Joo Kwang-sik knows this better than anyone.
He bit his lip.
“To gather 2% of Sunyang Electronics, you’d have to sweep up every share that hits the market. You know what kind of impact that could have, right?”
Wow, he’s more petty than I expected.
In situations like this, the right move is to first agree to get the shares, no matter the method, and then figure out how to do it together.
But Chairman Joo Kwang-sik keeps spewing negativity.
Do I have to propose a solution myself?
“Is there any rush?”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“I’ll keep the 2% of Daehyun Motors shares safe. You don’t need them right away, do you?”
His tense face gradually softened as he understood my meaning.
“You’ll hand them over when needed?”
“You’ll need a lot of preparation for a counterattack, and the best weapons are kept hidden, aren’t they?”
“True. There’s no need to rush.”
“Likewise, take your time gathering Sunyang Electronics shares. We can swap when the time is right.”
“My nephew, you’re quite the businessman. Making a twentyfold profit!”
“It’s not much of a profit since I don’t plan to trade a precious weapon for money. Haha.”
We clinked our wine glasses lightly, celebrating the deal.
“But do you really think you can take over Sunyang Group?”
“It’s my goal for now. Confidence? Well, the odds are quite low at the moment.”
“Should I call you bold? Is it okay to reveal such ambition so openly?”
“Others see it as overambition, not just ambition, so it’s fine.”
“Are your eyes just for show? If you have the ability, ambition becomes a goal…”
“You’re too kind. I’m not quite there yet.”
“What about me?”
“Sorry?”
What is he suddenly talking about?
“Do you think I can become the owner of Daehyun?”
Not a chance, sorry. You’re destined to be sidelined.
Don’t underestimate Joo Tae-sik, the eldest. He’s the one who will grow Daehyun Motors into a global top 5 company.
He may be seen as simple and unrefined, but he has the strength of a bulldozer. He’ll push Daehyun Motors’ tens of thousands of employees to the brink and eventually make it the world’s fifth-largest company by production.
With Daehyun Motors backing him, he’ll reclaim all of Daehyun, which was split.
I have no intention of supporting Joo Kwang-sik, who smiles brightly in front of me. I don’t want the future to change even a little.
“It’s hard to say.”
“Why? Does it seem hopeless?”
“I don’t know enough. About you, your brothers, the current share structure, the determination of those in the race… I have no data.”
“Is it because you’ve always invested based on accurate data since you were young? You’re quite rational.”
Joo Kwang-sik finished the last of his wine.
“One thing is clear, right? That you and I are in a mutually beneficial relationship. Isn’t that so?”
“Rather than helping, I’d say we’re amicable.”
“You’re cold to the end. You take after your grandfather. Well, not being enemies is a big win. Haha.”
Seeing him laugh so heartily, I feel a bit sorry for him.
I don’t remember the exact timing, but Chairman Joo Tae-sik will expose his embezzlement of hundreds of billions, and he’ll end up serving a few years in prison.
I can’t recall if he managed to save one subsidiary or ended up penniless.
Chairman Joo Kwang-sik’s peak, fueled by ambition, is unfortunately short-lived.
“Give me a reason.”
“A reason?”
“Yes. I’m not looking to auction it off just to drive up the price. We’re not strangers… I’ll be satisfied with a fair corporate value.”
Vice Chairman Jin Dong-gi showed no change in expression, though it was surely welcome news.
He knows better than anyone that there’s no such thing as a free lunch.
“Why? Isn’t a higher bid better?”
“Are you confident?”
“What?”
“Sunyang Electronics has enormous retained earnings. I assure you, my uncle will offer far more than Sunyang Card’s value. You can’t win.”
“Yet you’ve decided to hand over Sunyang Card to me?”
“Yes.”
“May I ask why?”
“Because I’m scared.”
“Scared? Of what?”
Jin Dong-gi’s eyes changed at the unexpected answer.
“You always say that as the eldest, Sunyang Group is yours. If you take the card company, that belief will only strengthen, and eventually, you’ll take all the companies I’ve inherited by any means necessary.”
“You’re afraid of empowering your uncle?”
“Yes.”
Jin Dong-gi studied me closely, then smiled slightly.
“And me? The world knows that the two sons of Sunyang will have a major showdown for the group.”
“I might be wrong, but I see a difference. One wants to own Sunyang Group, the other shows a will to manage it. I’m just choosing the safer side.”
“Management, huh…”
“Isn’t that right?”
“You’ve got it wrong. I also want to have Sunyang Group in my grasp. I’m not much different from my brother.”
“You’re honest.”
“But there’s a difference. At least I take the position of a conglomerate head very seriously. Even just handling the heavy industry division is daunting.”
If he had taken over Sunyang Group, would my past have been different?
I almost laughed at myself for thinking such thoughts.
It’s all the same in the end.
I must remember not to harbor any affection for them.
They are all targets to be ousted eventually.
It’s foolish to grow attached to a pig you’re raising to slaughter.
“But you’re not going to give it all up, are you?”
“Of course not. I can’t do that.”
“Then it’s settled. Just give me a reason to hand over the card company, and I’ll support you. If the reason is weak, I’ll sell it to a third party at a very high price. There’s already a player in the game.”
“Daehyun, you mean?”
“Yes.”
“If you hand it over to them, your grandfather might hate you.”
“Only for a moment. I know how to win him back.”
“I knew it. You’re the most dangerous one.”
Jin Dong-gi let out a hollow laugh.
“There’s no reason. The best reason is to hand over the affiliate to the family’s eldest. Let’s do it with money instead.”
“Money won’t work.”
“It will.”
“How?”
I’m genuinely curious. Isn’t he after the card company because the heavy industry division lacks liquidity? Sunyang Electronics has far superior cash mobilization. You can’t beat that.
“You said the fair value is 1.4 trillion won?”
“Yes.”
“It’s a three-year bond, right?”
“You don’t need to check twice. I always keep my word.”
“I’ll add 100 billion won on top. That’s not on credit; I’ll give it to you in cash on the day of the acquisition signing. How about that?”
Is he slow-witted, or am I missing the true meaning?
If the younger brother offers 100 billion in cash, the older brother will immediately bet 200 billion. Vice Chairman Jin Young-gi will never lose in a money battle.
“Please clarify. What is the 100 billion for?”
“Oh, our Do-jun. You realized it’s not just any 100 billion? Haha.”
My uncle laughed heartily before explaining.
“Money with no strings attached, no traceable origin. Money you can use anywhere without any trouble.”
Ah, slush funds.
No trouble means it’s cleanly laundered money.
Even if used as a bribe, it’s untraceable, so you can just deny it.
“Your uncle will never use his personal wealth. Even if he spends 2 trillion won to acquire Sunyang Card, it’ll be company money. No matter how much you get, it’ll be hard to use freely. The tax office guys… they’re scary.”
“There’s a difference, indeed.”
“Right?”
“Between the two of you, your uncles, I mean. To amass a trillion won, you must have worked tirelessly, turning over company funds worth billions. And yet, you just handed it over like it was nothing.”
“I’m not as greedy as some might think.”
It’s not about greed; it’s about who’s more desperate.
If you’re desperate enough to dig into your emergency stash, it means things are dire. I should take another look at the management situation in the heavy industries division that Vice Chairman Jin Dong-gi oversees.
“Anyway… there will come a time when you’ll need money that’s completely clean. The funds you have tied up in Miracle won’t be of any use then. It has to be money that’s been perfectly laundered.”
I’ve got plenty of that kind of money.
I can take the funds I have in Miracle in the U.S., invest them in numerous shell companies scattered across the Dutch countryside, write them off as losses, and then stash them somewhere in Switzerland. Voilà, a slush fund.
But it was a tempting offer, hard to ignore.
When the credit card crisis hits and cash runs dry, I’ll be grateful for that trillion-won slush fund he offered.
“Uncle, could you give me a little time to think it over? Just a few days.”
“Of course. It might be wise to check the value of that trillion-won slush fund with Oh Se-hyun. He’d welcome it with open arms.”
Vice Chairman Jin Dong-gi left with a confident air.
Watching him walk away, I felt a twinge of guilt, but I couldn’t help but smile.
Is this what they call killing three birds with one stone?
I get to drop a bomb, snatch the emergency stash, and if I trace back the trillion-won slush fund he hands over, I’ll have his corruption records in my grasp. It’s definitely a triple win.
It’s a bit of a shame I can’t stick it to Vice Chairman Jin Young-gi at the same time.