I Am the Third-Generation Heir of a Conglomerate - Chapter 479



Only Noblemtl

479. Large-scale disaster (4)

It’s been a week since the Japanese auto scandal broke.

However, the dramatic change that I had hoped for has not yet occurred, and one vice president came to me to complain, seeming a little worried.

“Toyota’s stock price, which is at the center of this situation, is holding steady.”

“As a company ranked first in trust, it is only natural that they would have a strong defense system. Now, that defense system is starting to wear thin.”

“More than 1 million units have already been recalled.”

“I heard that in the US, they even sent out warning signs warning people not to drive.”

It was not possible to recall all vehicles at the same time.

So the recall was carried out sequentially, and in the meantime, the vehicles had no choice but to be driven.

However, since even critical safety components such as the engine and airbags were tampered with, the US state level warned against driving the vehicle.

“Stock prices are being defended, but the damage continues to accumulate. Overall Japanese manufacturing output has fallen by more than 5%, and it is expected to fall by more than 10% next month.”

“They say new car sales have also been crushed.”

“I received a report that it had decreased by more than 15%. In fact, even 15% is too little. It was a scandal that should have caused a sales decrease of at least 30%.”

It wasn’t the world’s number one automobile group for nothing.

The automobile market accounts for nearly 20% of Japan’s manufacturing industry.

That is why the Japanese government had to somehow downplay this scandal.

Thanks to such efforts, the stock price was still being defended, but trying to stop the flowing water only resulted in a stronger stream pouring out.

“If you put it into the Volkswagen situation, can’t you guess how it will play out?”

“I also did some research. Volkswagen’s stock price fell by half in 2015 due to the emissions scandal. At first, the stock price did not fall, but as soon as the full-scale measures were taken, the stock price plummeted.”

This isn’t the first data manipulation incident.

Just three years ago, Volkswagen was found to have manipulated its emissions tests.

It was the starting point of the decline of Volkswagen, the world’s second largest automobile group.

“This situation is actually more serious than that time.”

“Volkswagen has spent over 30 trillion won in compensation for emissions manipulation and over 40 trillion won in settlements. Including recall costs, it has suffered a loss of at least 100 trillion won.”

A loss of as much as 100 trillion won.

The Toyota Group’s known internal reserves amounted to 200 trillion won, so it was a manageable amount.

But in Volkswagen’s case, only the emissions were manipulated.

The Toyota Group manipulated data on dozens of components, including emissions, airbags, and engines.

So, the company could have suffered even greater losses, and could have recorded losses exceeding its internal reserves.

“They will try to bury it as a mistake by the affiliates somehow. They will want to wrap things up by closing a few factories and bankrupting a few affiliates.”

“I feel the same way. Although Toyota Group executives personally apologized, I felt like they were trying to blame most of the problems on their affiliates.”

“We need to make it clear that this is not a problem for an affiliate, but a problem for the entire group.”

“That’s why I’ve scheduled a whistleblower press conference today. It will include information about the Toyota Group headquarters and this manipulation incident.”

The key to this situation was whether or not headquarters was involved.

The role of the whistleblower was very important.

“How many years were Volkswagen executives sentenced to for emissions cheating?”

“I understand that the researchers who were directly involved were sentenced to more than five years in prison, and the manager was sentenced to about two years. The trial has not yet been completed, but it is expected that they will all be sentenced to prison.”

“It would be difficult to get something like that in Japan.”

There was no worse news than the executives being sent to prison.

Unfortunately, unlike in Europe, the likelihood of seeking a prison sentence in Japan is not very high.

“However, since lawsuits have been filed in the US and Europe, a high sentence may be sought in Japan as well, depending on the results.”

“But why is Vice President Han so anxious? He was so relaxed last week, but now he looks anxious as if someone is chasing him.”

“I feel anxious because over 30 trillion won has been spent in just one week.”

It was my fault, after all.

The acquisition of Toshiba Memory and Westinghouse would cost more than 30 trillion won.

In order to make up for the lost money, one vice president was using his bad faith to try to increase the rate of return.

“Did you hear from Toshiba?”

“I got a call this morning. They said they would agree to sell Toshiba Memory and Westinghouse. They said they would first sign a preliminary contract and then start full-scale negotiations after the antitrust issues are resolved.”

“You contacted me later than I expected. You said you would respond within a day, but it took a week.”

It was Toshiba’s Managing Director Haruto who rushed to the airport.

They said they would give me an answer by the next morning, but it took a whole week for me to get an answer.

“It seems like they thought it through carefully since it’s a contract worth over 30 trillion won. They also had to compare it with the contract terms proposed by the private equity fund, so in fact, it moved very quickly even in a week.”

“Now that Toshiba has come up with an answer, we should take action as well.”

I opened my phone and called David.

To address antitrust regulations in the United States, Europe, and China, it had to be resolved politically.

If we had used David’s lobbying skills, the problem could have been solved without difficulty.

[Boss! I was going to contact you anyway. Global oil companies are really coveting your oil field holdings. They want the Alaskan oil fields, Guyana, and even the North Sea oil fields.]

“Oil prices have risen considerably. Oil fields that are gushing out oil are attractive.”

The year before last, the price of crude oil was just $25.

But the price began to skyrocket this year, and has now surpassed $75.

The value of the oil has also increased by a factor of three, as its price has increased by a factor of three.

[I think we’ve laid out enough bait, but shouldn’t we raise the net now?]

“I will soon go to the United States and personally raise the net. Before that, there is one problem to solve. It is a problem that requires the political circles of the United States, Europe, and China to move.”

[Just hearing it sounds like it’s going to be a lot of fun. What should I do?]

David’s voice grew louder.

He was excited at the thought of working with politicians from various countries for the first time in a long time.

“We plan to acquire Toshiba Memory and Westinghouse, but antitrust regulations are holding us back.”

[It is possible to find a solution somehow. However, if Taewoo Group wants to acquire Toshiba Memory, it will have to lobby for a long time.]

“If Taewoo Group acquires it alone, that would be the case. So we plan to proceed jointly with a fintech bank. We are drawing a picture similar to an American company and a Korean company forming a consortium to acquire Toshiba Memory.”

It was the Trump administration that shouted “America First.”

So, just forming an alliance with an American company could bring huge benefits.

[If we proceed jointly with a fintech bank, we can definitely reduce the time. And since it is not Samjin Electronics but Taewoo Electronics that is acquiring the NAND flash business, I don’t think it will be a big problem in Europe and China.]

“How long do you think it will take to resolve this?”

[It would take at least three weeks to attack the US political establishment this week, the European Union next week, and finally the Chinese political establishment.]

“That should be enough. I’ll shoot a bonus every time you shorten the time, so be proactive.”

[You told me to talk about the bonus first! Let’s finish it within 15 days! I’ll move right now!]

Doo, doo-!

David hung up the phone first.

Although David had already earned more money than he could spend, he was happy that he had been given a mission and was enjoying his work.

“I can help ease Vice Chairman Han’s worries.”

“The only thing I’m worried about right now is the 30 trillion won cost issue.”

“They say global oil companies are coveting the oilfield stakes held by Taewoo Group. If they sell the stakes at a high price, wouldn’t they be able to solve the cost problem?”

It was a vice president who was listening to David’s phone call.

But I didn’t think he heard the full conversation, so I explained it again.

“It would certainly be a big help, but would you be able to see a profit of 30 trillion won?”

“If the price of crude oil has tripled, wouldn’t it be possible to sell the oil field stake at a triple price? Just for the Alaskan oil field, it cost $20 billion to secure a 50% stake. At the current rate, it seems like it would be possible to sell a 25% stake for at least $30 billion.”

“You could see profits of over 20 trillion won just from the Alaskan oil fields!”

50% stake in Alaskan oil fields purchased for $20 billion.

Half, or 25%, would be $10 billion.

However, if it were to be sold at $30 billion, which is three times the price, it would make a profit of $20 billion.

“The North Sea oil field stake acquired for $7 billion could also be sold for $20 billion, and especially in the case of the Guyana oil field where full-scale drilling will begin next year, the stake could be sold at an even higher price.”

In the case of Alaskan oil fields, there is still time until development.

The North Sea oil fields have already been drilled for several years.

But in the case of Guyana’s oil fields, they were only just getting ready for drilling, so they were able to fetch high prices.

Isn’t it the case that new products tend to be sold at a higher price than new ones?

Since it is a Guyanese oil field that has not been drilled even once, there will be many companies that will show interest even if the price is more than three times.

“In the case of Guyana, Hess owns a stake. Do you plan to sell Hess as well?”

“There’s nothing you can’t do. And while it might be difficult to sell the entire company, it’s certainly possible to transfer some of the shares.”

“If we sell just half of our genetic stake, we can make a profit of at least $80 billion and up to $100 billion!”

It was the expression on the vice president’s face that suddenly brightened.

Whether it’s stocks or genetics, what ultimately matters is profit realization.

Moreover, it is difficult to find cases in the stock market where profits exceed 100 trillion won.

“Now you know why I bought the genetic stock?”

“I never doubted it, but I didn’t know it would pay this much.”

“Why are you doing this? You’ve made many investments that have seen returns of more than 3 times. Didn’t you make a 10-fold profit just by investing in altcoins?”

“The profit scale is different. Even if it is Bitcoin and not an altcoin, you cannot see a profit of 100 trillion won.”

It was a genetic business with hundreds of years of history.

So it was natural that the scale of the new business, Bitcoin, was incomparable.

But that doesn’t mean we can ignore the Bitcoin and altcoin markets.

“It’s time to start realizing profits from Bitcoin, right?”

“We have already completed all the preparations. We plan to pour out a huge amount of short positions starting from the end of the year and the new year.”

“We must not give the forces any room to escape.”

“I don’t think I’ll give you any room to back out. You’ll have to put down at least half of your money. If you get greedy, you’ll lose all your money.”

He used to moan in front of me.

In the financial world, one vice president had a bad reputation.

No matter how much the dark forces like organized crime or the yakuza tried, there was no way to escape Vice Chairman Han’s grasp.