[038] Let’s Not Be Greedy 2.
“America?”
“Yes, our headquarters are in Manhattan, New York.”
“And you’re Korean?”
A young Son Jeong-ui, just 36, known in Japan as Masayoshi Son, looked curiously at Oh Se-hyeon, a middle-aged Korean man fluent in both English and Japanese, tilting his head in wonder.
“Yes, our investment capital is Korean, but we primarily invest in American companies and Hollywood films.”
“So if you were to invest, it would be in dollars…?”
“That’s entirely up to you, sir.”
“But how did you hear about our SoftBank?”
“Our company holds a significant amount of Microsoft stock, so we receive quarterly management reports. Suddenly, Japan’s performance stood out, and it piqued my interest.”
“Ah…!”
Having a common link during negotiations is a valuable card. It turns strangers into acquaintances, easing any wariness.
“So, did you just come from the States?”
“No, I came from Korea.”
“That’s a relief.”
A slight, mocking smile.
Oh Se-hyeon bit his lip, sensing a negative response.
“Since you came from nearby, I feel less guilty. As I mentioned in the fax, we don’t need external investment at the moment.”
“That’s why I’m here in person—to persuade you, Mr. Son.”
“Hmm… I apologize if my written words didn’t convey my thoughts accurately. We won’t accept investment under any conditions. This stance won’t change…”
“I’ll offer ten times.”
Son Jeong-ui was left speechless by Oh Se-hyeon’s sudden proposal, especially such a bold offer of ten times.
But Oh Se-hyeon felt as if he had swallowed poison, wishing he could take back his words.
‘This kid’s got guts… Can’t deny the bloodline.’
“Gambling makes people lose their senses, doesn’t it?”
“And how would you know? Are you playing games at school?”
I’ve seen countless people in the Sunyang Group lose their minds to gambling. They squander hundreds of billions and then embezzle company funds to cover their losses.
When caught by prosecutors for embezzlement, they flee abroad, only to return to casinos. After Sunyang Group appeases the prosecutors, they come back home, burdened with gambling debts.
In this family, they might quit drugs, but they can’t quit gambling. There’s just too much money.
“No one at our school carries coins. They don’t even carry bills under ten thousand won. Cards are the norm.”
“Really? Rich kids are different, I guess. So, what do you plan to do with gambling? Play poker with the SoftBank president?”
“Yes. Let’s have a race.”
“A race?”
“We’ll start the race by offering ten times the purchase price of SoftBank stock.”
“What? Oh, never mind. Go on.”
It’s been a while since I’ve seen Oh Se-hyeon so surprised.
“Then we’ll keep adding five times. Fifteen, twenty, twenty-five times… But we must let them know they can stop anytime. And if they stop, the negotiation ends right there. No turning back… Isn’t that gambling?”
“That Son Jeong-ui guy, he’s going to be rattled, huh? Haha.”
Oh Se-hyeon slapped his knee and laughed heartily, but the laughter didn’t last long.
“It sounds plausible, but don’t forget the goal. If he agrees at twenty times, we lose. Heck, even at ten times, we might lose. Our goal is investment profit, not acquiring SoftBank.”
“I’m thinking of racing up to fifty times.”
The mention of ten times was surprising, but fifty times didn’t shock him. He just looked incredulous.
“Don’t make that face. Dell’s stock has already gone over a hundred times. SoftBank’s stock can do the same.”
“Really? SoftBank isn’t a manufacturer. It’s just a distributor. A hundred times? You could lose everything.”
“We can’t just sit at the gambling table and leave. You can’t play poker alone, can you? We have to see it through.”
Oh Se-hyeon stood up without a word.
“Your luck in gambling is strong, so let’s try this race. I’ll raise the stakes. But Do-jun.”
“Yes.”
“The end of gambling is ruin. Remember that.”
A calm voice.
Not as an investment firm CEO, but as a close friend of his father.
“This will be the last time. At least until I become an adult.”
Oh Se-hyeon nodded lightly.
“What… what are you doing?”
“I’ll offer fifteen times. Oh, one thing I must mention first. Once I stand up from this chair, I won’t look back. Also, I’ll consider the offer as never having been made. Twenty times!”
Unlike the relaxed Oh Se-hyeon, Son Jeong-ui’s fingers trembled.
“Twenty-five times.”
“W-wait a minute!”
Oh Se-hyeon knew how to lead a race with ample funds. He also knew not to give the opponent time to think. You have to push relentlessly until they fold and surrender.
“Thirty times.”
”…”
At that moment, the opponent’s trembling hand stopped. Realizing the rules of the game, he regained his composure. Not an ordinary person, indeed.
It was hard to grasp the meaning of that composure.
Was he gauging Oh Se-hyeon’s funds, or did he genuinely not want the investment…? What was it?
“Thirty-five times.”
Silence again.
Oh Se-hyeon picked up the briefcase he had placed beside the chair. It was a bluff.
But it didn’t work. The race continued, and Son Jeong-ui maintained his poker face, perhaps curious to see how far it would go.
“Fifty times.”
”…Call.”
Did it show on his face? He pinpointed the exact moment of the final bet.
As the race ended, a victorious arrogance appeared on Son Jeong-ui’s face.
Lost. Embarrassing, but…
But for Oh Se-hyeon, the game wasn’t over yet.
Now it was time to raise the stakes.
“At fifty times, how many shares will you give?”
“That part will need internal discussion…”
“Forty-five times.”
“What? This…!”
He was visibly flustered, but being quick-witted, he realized a new game had started and quickly grasped the rules.
“Forty times.”
“A million shares. No more than that…”
Now Oh Se-hyeon had to read the opponent’s funds. He knew that as the investment multiple decreased, the number of shares had to increase to secure a fifty-fold profit.
Both quickly calculated. How many shares would yield the maximum profit? But it was Oh Se-hyeon leading the game.
Son Jeong-ui couldn’t let go of the greed for surplus funds.
He bet again.
“Thirty-five times.”
“Five million.”
The gaze between them settled, marking the final bet. It was time to stop the race.
This wasn’t a battle of pride but a negotiation.
”…Call.”
As the gambling ended, both men exhaled deeply at the same time.
Gathering his tense body and mind, Oh Se-hyeon extended his hand, but no hand came to meet his.
“Five million shares are impossible right now. At least two million shares need to be issued. Will you accept this?”
It didn’t seem like he wanted to break the deal now. It was a straightforward statement of reality and a proposal to resolve it.
“Alright. Two million shares issued, three million shares acquired. Let’s conclude it that way.”
Only then did Son Jeong-ui extend his hand with a broad smile.
He sold shares with a face value of 150 yen for 5,250 yen. With two rounds of push and pull, he earned 25 billion yen. It was only natural that he found it hard to suppress his laughter.
“I’m sorry to ask, but Miracle Investment is unfamiliar to me… You must have considerable financial power.”
“Quite so. We have over a trillion yen in cash available right now.”
Faced with a stunned Son Jeong-ui, who couldn’t close his mouth, Oh Se-hyeon was already drafting the contract.
“We’ve contracted at thirty-five times for five million shares. Now we just have to trust your luck.”
“Don’t worry. It’ll work out.”
“But are you really going to sell all the Dell stock?”
It seemed he had given up on persuading him and was just confirming one last time.
Selling off a soaring stock and using part of the money to buy shares in a mere software distributor at an absurd price.
Anyone would call it madness, but the person who made billions from such madness was right in front of him.
“I’ve made a hundred times profit, so there’s no reason to hold on. Sell the Dell stock, buy SoftBank shares, and you can handle the rest of the money, Uncle. I’ll be a high school student next year. I plan to focus solely on studying for the next three years.”
“It’s the first time I’ve heard a student say they’ll study, and it sounds so strange coming from you. Haha.”
Oh Se-hyeon chuckled but then turned serious again.
“You’re always top of your class, so it’s obvious you want to go to Seoul National University. Your major? Probably business or economics, right?”
“No. I’m going to law school.”
“Law school?”
“Yes.”
Oh Se-hyeon blinked at the unexpected answer.
He knew better than anyone that he wasn’t someone who would just become a judge or prosecutor and live idly after making enough money.
“With the country’s top entrepreneur as my grandfather and an uncle who studied economics in the UK, what could I possibly learn in college?”
“Then why law school? What do you plan to learn there? You’re not planning to become a judge or prosecutor, are you?”
“Of course not. It’s just to show something.”
“Show what?”
“That even as a third-generation chaebol, I can excel academically. No one from a chaebol family has gone to law school with such grades, have they?”
Oh Se-hyeon smiled slightly, guessing the real reason for wanting to go to law school. He thought it was to make another impression on Chairman Jin.
There was no need for further explanation. No reason to reveal it.
“I see. So, what about Dell? When’s the best time to sell?”
“The current trading price is fluctuating between 47 and 49 dollars, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then let’s sell it all at that range.”
“Alright. The current exchange rate is 111 yen to the dollar. I’ll put 230 million dollars into SoftBank, and I’ll manage the rest as you suggested. Sound good?”
Nothing else really stands out in my memory. My job is simply to look over the list of film projects sent from the U.S. and decide whether to invest.
I am determined to focus on my studies and get into Seoul National University’s law school. Many of Korea’s top officials are alumni from there.
Chairman Jin, who didn’t graduate from this school, still manages to maneuver these officials like his own limbs. It’s the power of money. However, in our country, the strongest ties are those of school networks, especially university ones.
I plan to wield both money in one hand and alumni connections in the other, using them to influence officials as if they were my own limbs. This way, they won’t see themselves as mere tools but as fellow alumni helping each other.
This subtle difference is what will give me an edge over Vice Chairman Jin Young-gi, who relies solely on money to control people.
However, my plan to focus on my studies had to be put on hold.
In the midst of a scorching summer, I opened the newspaper as usual, only to find every headline eerily identical, as if they had been copied.
“Global Semiconductor Industry in Crisis”
My eyes widened.
This year, semiconductor exports have surpassed 2 billion dollars in the first half alone, marking the greatest boom since the dawn of Korean history. So what on earth is this sudden disaster?