[022] Secretly, for Bigger Money 2.
“Would you stop me from doing something I want, just because you don’t like it, Dad?”
“Of course not! Whatever you decide to do, I’ll always support and help you, Do-jun.”
“Even if I want to become the CEO of a company bigger than Grandpa’s?”
His father burst into laughter.
“Haha! What am I going to do with you? Your dreams are so big, I don’t think there’s much I can do to help!”
He was being honest, perhaps too honest, with his son who dreamed of running a company bigger than Korea’s top corporation. A simple promise to help, even if it was just words, would have sufficed.
“There is something you can do.”
“What?”
“You can help me a lot.”
His father quickly sobered up, turning serious.
“How? Just so you know, I’m not interested in running a company. You know that, right?”
“But you know a lot of people who can help.”
“Me? No, I don’t really know anyone from Sunyang Group. Just Director Lee Hak-jae, but he’s not someone who has time to help you.”
“You mentioned earlier that you studied business in England… Don’t you have any friends from there?”
His father fell silent again.
“Well, look who it is! Jin Yoon-gi! It’s been ages!”
“Come on, it’s not even been a year. Why the exaggeration?”
It’s a habit of someone who always has to act pleased to see clients, especially when those clients are big players handling millions.
Jin Yoon-gi’s occasional drinking buddy, Oh Se-hyun, is the Korean representative of the global asset management firm PowerShares.
Founded in 1935 and headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, PowerShares employs over 7,000 investment professionals and has branches in 40 countries, managing assets worth $120 billion.
It’s an empire of money.
Oh Se-hyun was so talented that he became the youngest representative in the Asia-Pacific region for PowerShares.
Though two years older than Jin Yoon-gi, they had become friends while conversing mostly in English during their time in England.
“What brings you to contact me first? Did you come into some spare cash you want me to handle?”
“Do you not know my situation? I’m a jobless bum living off my dad’s allowance. What money do I have to spare?”
“Isn’t that allowance about ten times my salary? Use half and let me invest the rest for you.”
“You don’t understand the spending habits of a chaebol heir like me. No matter how much I have, it’s never enough.”
Despite the teasing, their friendship remained unshaken.
It was just the way things were between them.
“So, why are you here if you’re broke?”
“Because of my son.”
“Your son? You should be talking to a teacher if it’s about your kid. What advice can a money manager like me give?”
“Well, it turns out my second son wants to become a businessman like his grandfather and is asking for help.”
“Your second son? Do-jun, right? Isn’t he just in elementary school?”
“Yeah, fifth grade.”
“Wow, that’s impressive! Did you give him some kind of gifted education? He doesn’t seem like the kind of kid who’d come from a jobless dad.”
Oh Se-hyun chuckled, giving Jin Yoon-gi a playful nudge. But Jin Yoon-gi couldn’t bring himself to laugh.
“Yeah, the kid’s grown up fast. Sometimes he’s more serious than I am, and I can’t just brush him off.”
“So, what do you want me to do?”
“Just have a meal with him and advise him not to rush into deciding his future. Tell him that business and management are things for the distant future, and for now, he should just enjoy being a kid.”
“Being the grandson of a chairman is different. I have to push my son to study hard every day to get into a good college.”
“Jealous, aren’t you? Haha.”
Jin Yoon-gi’s laughter prompted Oh Se-hyun to raise his fist playfully.
“Bragging about money is annoying, and kids born with a silver spoon are a turn-off, but your dad was different. He was the first person who made me think, ‘Wow, someone can be this genuine.’”
“Hey! Can you stop swearing in front of the kids?”
“Ah, sorry. Dealing with nouveau riche clients has ruined my manners. Haha.”
The person Dad brought over was quite entertaining.
PowerShares is a colossal entity. In thirty years, it would become a super asset management firm handling 800 trillion won annually.
It’s a speculative capital that could easily bankrupt a Southeast Asian country. Yet, for someone who represents such a place in Korea, he seemed a bit too laid-back and not particularly sharp.
Throughout the meal, he kept up a cheerful chatter, coming across more like an ordinary neighborhood uncle.
“I’ll head up first.”
Sang-jun quickly finished his meal and went upstairs.
The kid must be hitting puberty.
Lately, he barely talks at home, and our parents are starting to tread carefully around him.
As the meal was wrapping up, Dad gave his friend a knowing look.
“So, Do-jun, you want to be a businessman when you grow up?”
“Yes.”
“Like your grandfather?”
“A businessman even bigger than Grandpa.”
“Sunyang Group is the biggest in Korea… A bigger company, huh? That’s quite ambitious.”
“It’s not ambition; it’s a dream.”
“Ambition like your grandfather, dreams like your father, huh?”
Oh Se-hyun’s eyes sparkled for a moment.
“Yoon-gi, mind if I have a chat with Do-jun alone?”
Dad nodded, and Oh Se-hyun got up from the table.
“Do-jun, listen to what he has to say,” Dad said with a smile.
Once inside my room, Oh Se-hyun took a quick look around and pulled up a chair.
“Neat and tidy, I see.”
He seemed to be assessing my personality based on how organized my room was.
“So, Do-jun, if you have any questions, feel free to ask. Despite appearances, this uncle is quite successful.”
Being the Korean representative of the world’s largest asset management firm isn’t just successful; it’s incredibly so.
Feigning ignorance, I asked my first question.
“Are you the CEO of a big company too, Uncle?”
“Yes, I am. But unlike your grandfather, I help rich people become even richer.”
“So, you must meet a lot of wealthy people?”
“That’s right.”
“Then you must hear a lot about how to make money from them?”
“What? Wow… You’re sharp. They said you weren’t like other kids, and it’s true. Haha.”
He let out a hearty laugh. Let’s see how long that laughter lasts.
“I’m tight-lipped. If I blabbed about the secrets of wealthy clients, I wouldn’t last long in this business. Word would get around fast. And I don’t pry too much.”
It’s part of the professional ethics. Rich people have many secrets. Even if you catch a glimpse of them, you have to keep your mouth shut, or you’ll be ostracized in the industry.
“Then you’ll keep my story a secret too, right?”
“Wow, I’m getting surprised by an elementary schooler today. You’re quite unique. But you’re not my client, so I have no reason to keep your secrets.”
“Huh? Didn’t my dad tell you?”
“Tell me what?”
Oh Se-hyun blinked in confusion.
“About my money. I have 14 billion won in my account right now, and if I sell the remaining land, I’ll have over 10 billion more. Doesn’t that make me a potential client?”
Oh Se-hyun just blinked. He probably won’t encounter anything more surprising in his life.
When you hear something unrealistic, you first dismiss it as nonsense. But once you realize it’s true, based on the speaker’s credibility, your mind goes blank.
So he just sat there, mouth agape, unable to say anything.
The greater the shock, the longer the silence.
In my past life, there were many minor heirs due to stock gifts from chaebols, but not to this extent.
Moreover, even in my past life, most minor heirs were stock-rich due to gifts, and the amounts were only a few hundred billion at most.
The money I have now would be worth at least a trillion won thirty years from now.
It’s utterly unrealistic to believe a 12-year-old could have such wealth.
I waited for Oh Se-hyun to regain his composure and speak.
It took almost five minutes before he finally stammered out a response.
“F-f-fourteen billion…?”
“By the end of this year, I’ll have over 10 billion more.”
“Did your grandfather give you all this money?”
“No.”
“Then how?”
“You mentioned earlier that you don’t pry into your clients’ details.”
“R-right. I shouldn’t have asked.”
Still stammering from the shock, I handed him my bankbook.
“This is my account. You can verify it.”
As Oh Se-hyun repeatedly checked the numbers in my account, I decided how to proceed to the next step.
I couldn’t keep pretending to be a child forever. To move forward, I had to reveal a bit of my true self.
“This isn’t what I came here for today…”
Oh Se-hyun scratched his head and let out a hollow laugh.
“I wanted to give some good advice to my friend’s son… but now I don’t feel like it.”
The professional instinct of an asset manager.
There are countless places to invest, but there’s always a shortage of funds. With such a huge sum dangling in front of him, his desire must be stirring.
“Your dad asked me to talk to you, to encourage you to grow slowly. While it’s good to nurture talents in arts, music, or sports from a young age, business and management are things you start as an adult.”
“I read in the news about a kid in the U.S. who made $2,000 selling stamps at 12 and made a fortune selling newspaper subscriptions in high school.”
“Trading and business are different. Anyway, what do you plan to do with this money?”
“What do you think I should do, Uncle?”
One thing I learned from Chairman Jin!
<Be the listener, not the explainer.>
<Be the one who listens, chooses, and decides.>
I already know how I want to use this money, but it’s always good to hear the opinion of a top asset manager.
The more information, the better.