I Am the Third-Generation Heir of a Conglomerate - Chapter 496



Only Noblemtl

496. The Saboteur (1)

Blood ties, school ties, regional ties.

It was one of the three important links in South Korea.

That’s why I often attended Harvard alumni meetings, and among them there were people from wealthy families like mine.

Kim Jeong-kwon, successor to the Daehan Explosives Group and managing director.

Although we didn’t go to school at the same time, we met a few times because he was one of the few people who was both a chaebol heir and a Harvard graduate.

And today, for the first time, I contacted him first.

Usually, Executive Director Kim Jeong-kwon would contact me in a friendly manner.

But when I contacted him first, he postponed his schedule and rushed to Captain Kang’s restaurant annex.

“I was really surprised that you contacted me first.”

“It seems like it’s been a while since I’ve seen you. How have you been?”

“Thanks to you, senior, I am dying. No matter what I do, I am always compared to you, so it is so frustrating.”

After living in society for a long time, I guess my flattery skills have improved.

I have met many second- and third-generation chaebols, but I have only seen a few with abilities as outstanding as Executive Director Kim Jeong-kwon.

A brain strong enough to get into Harvard University.

And he was a talented person with the leadership to lead the company.

If he had not been the successor to Daehwa Group, Executive Director Kim Jeong-kwon would have been someone with the ability to be scouted by Taewoo Group a long time ago.

“What’s so frustrating? Isn’t it too humble to turn Daehwa Qcell, which had been in the red for years, into a surplus?”

“At my age, hasn’t my brother already achieved enough to become chairman? Just turning one affiliate into a profitable business isn’t enough to even hand out a business card.”

“I have some information that I can hand you on my business card. Are you interested?”

Executive Director Kim Jeong-kwon sits up straight.

There was no rush, though, as he had already secured his spot as the next successor.

There was no way I could refuse the information given by the chairman of Taewoo Group.

“I welcome any information you give me at any time.”

“But the information fee might be a little expensive. Is that okay?”

“Is this information conditional?”

“You can listen and decide. If you don’t want to accept the conditions, it’s okay to refuse.”

“Okay, let me hear the information first.”

I took out my cell phone.

Then, he played a promotional video for the Nikola hydrogen truck that was uploaded to a video platform.

“I’ve seen this video several times.”

“Of course. That’s how the Dialogue Group came to own a 6% stake in Nikola.”

“I am very interested in renewable energy. That is why Daehwa Q Cells, which I am in charge of, is focusing on solar energy business, and we plan to expand our business to hydrogen energy.”

Renewable energy.

It was obviously a field that needed to be developed continuously, and it was also a field with high growth potential.

“No matter how good renewable energy is, you should have researched it carefully before investing.”

“What are you talking about? Is there a problem with Nicola?”

“I have a video that I edited to make it a little easier to understand the hydrogen truck promotional video. If you watch it, you’ll understand why I said that.”

The video edited by the Artificial Intelligence Center was played.

There was little change from the previous video, except that the road, which had been flat, had turned into a downhill slope.

“…Why did you beat the video?”

“We didn’t distort the video, Nikola distorted it and uploaded it. The hydrogen truck experiment was on a downhill slope from the beginning.”

“Why would you do something like that?”

“Because it can go downhill without any power. That means it’s a truck that rolls by gravity, not a hydrogen truck.”

Managing Director Kim Jeong-kwon replays the video several times.

And only then did I understand what kind of prank Nicola Saga had been up to.

It was not that Director Kim Jeong-kwon had a low level of understanding, but it was just that it took time for him to understand the absurd pranks that Nicola had pulled off.

“How can you do something like this without being crazy? How can you advertise that a truck that rolls automatically because it’s going downhill is powered by hydrogen!”

“What wouldn’t they do to attract investment? They probably think they can just get the investment and actually build a hydrogen truck.”

“But it was too much.”

“Don’t you think that if you don’t get caught, then that’s the end of it?”

Many companies have done similar things.

There were many companies that thought that the role of the public relations department was to package new products that had not yet been successfully developed as if they had been successfully developed.

“When will this video be released?”

“It will be disclosed within two weeks at the latest. It would be better for the Dialogue Group to sell its stake in Nikola as quickly as possible.”

“… … Time is very tight. I don’t know if I can sell my stake for a fair price within two weeks.”

“Once the video is released, the stock price is over. So, even if you lose a little, sell it quickly. Besides, didn’t you earn several times more than the money you spent on the initial stake acquisition? It’s a situation where being greedy doesn’t bring any good.”

Managing Director Kim Jeong-kwon repeatedly washes his face with dry soap.

He let out a sigh and raised his head again.

“Earlier this year, we invested $100 million to acquire a 6% stake in Nikola.”

“It’s gone up by over 50% in the meantime. I understand that the company’s value has increased significantly since it will be listed on NASDAQ soon.”

“It’s worth about $150 million now. But if you rush it, you might be able to get $130 million.”

“If you make $30 million in profit in less than a year, it’s a successful investment. But in just two weeks, you’ll lose more than $30 million, let alone make a profit.”

There was no choice.

Because a little success is always better than failure.

“Whew, oh! I’m late with my thanks. I was so shocked that I couldn’t even think of thanking you. Thank you so much for sharing the information worth $100 million.”

“Let’s leave the dialogue group to figure out future plans. Can we charge an information fee now?”

“I will accept anything that is within my power to handle.”

“The condition is that a dialogue group will come to the Saemangeum Chemical Complex and conduct research together.”

Saemangeum Chemical Complex built around the Taewoo Group.

Taewoo Semiconductor, Materials, and Centurion new drug manufacturing plants have completed moving into the chemical complex.

However, there were still many vacancies, and collaboration with material companies with outstanding technological capabilities was necessary, especially for the development of core semiconductor materials.

“Are you asking us to build a factory in Saemangeum and deploy personnel there?”

“Since we can also receive government subsidies, we will be able to build a new factory just by investing the profits from our investment in Nikola.”

“We have been investing in the development of several key materials for a long time, but we have no plans to expand to the extent of building a new factory.”

Managing Director Kim Jeong-gwon was a Harvard alumnus.

Even so, they were not close enough to just hand over the information about Nikola’s hydrogen truck manipulation that David and other expensive personnel had worked so hard to obtain.

I passed the information on to him because he wanted something from the conversation group.

This was also to prepare for the trade war with Japan that will come soon.

“Shouldn’t we also develop key material fields that Japan dominates, including semiconductors, in Korea? What would happen if Japan were to stop supplying materials?”

“I am also concerned about that part. Even so, spending hundreds of billions of won to build a separate core material factory is too much. However, I am not completely rejecting it. I will actively push for data sharing and joint research.

From now on, it was an area of ​​choice.

Because you can’t interfere with the direction of other people’s companies.

To the extent of data sharing and joint research, a certain level of achievement was achieved.

“Let’s discuss that issue later. First, let’s put out the urgent fire.”

“I’m going to get up first because this is so urgent. I’ll make sure to treat you better next time. I’m really sorry.”

“It’s something that has to happen, with over $100 million at stake. I wasn’t planning on drinking today either.”

“I will definitely repay the favor today!”

Dialogue Group invested $100 million in Nikola.

If the successor had not been my classmate, I might have been hit hard in the back of the head.

Of course, it was entirely up to them how the conversation group operated.

***

Executive Director Kim Jeong-gwon went straight to the headquarters of Daehwa Group.

Despite the late hour, his father and chairman of the Dialogue Group, Kim Seong-yoon, was still there.

“What are you doing at this hour?”

“I have something urgent to report.”

Executive Director Kim Jeong-gwon immediately showed the Nikola manipulation video.

Because it was such a crude prank, it took several long explanations before Chairman Kim Seong-yoon understood the situation.

“You guys are out of your minds. No one in their right mind would do something like this! Where did you get this information?”

“I received it from Taewoo Group Chairman Kim Min-jae. Aren’t we college classmates?”

“If it’s information from Taewoo Group, then I can trust it. Hehe, I’ve said it time and time again, but you can never run a large company by yourself. We have to help each other like we are doing now so that we can all grow together.”

Executive Director Kim Jeong-gwon did not go against his father’s wishes.

That is why he maintained a good relationship with Taewoo Group Chairman Kim Min-jae as well as Samjin Group Vice Chairman Oh Yong-jae.

“But I did receive one offer or condition.”

“With this much information, it’s worth setting conditions. What are the conditions?”

“It was a proposal to build a core materials development plant in the Saemangeum Chemical Complex and conduct joint research. It sounded like it meant that Korean companies would develop core materials currently dominated by Japan.”

“It is true that Japan has a monopoly on key materials in various fields. From Korea’s perspective, this is a very serious matter.”

“However, considering everything from factory expansion to personnel deployment, it is a large-scale investment that will cost hundreds of billions of won. That is why we agreed to only share data and conduct joint research.”

Director Kim Jeong-kwon’s response was perfect.

It was a stable response that pursued profits while minimizing risks.

But there was one thing that Executive Director Kim Jeong-gwon did not take into consideration.

It was the personality of his father and chairman of the Dialogue Group, Kim Seong-yoon.

“Director Kim Jeong-kwon! Just do whatever Taewoo Group wants.”

“Are you saying we should build a new factory in the Saemangeum Chemical Complex?”

“Yes, how many people have I met while working in the business world? But there are only two people I have recognized. One is Chairman Oh Hee-geon of Samjin Group, and the other is Chairman Kim Min-jae of Taewoo Group.”

It was Chairman Kim Seong-yoon who gave great praise.

Director Kim Jeong-kwon stuttered as he spoke because he had never seen his father praise someone like this.

“It would be too risky to just trust and go with what Chairman Kim Min-jae is doing.”

“Have you ever seen anything that Chairman Kim Min-jae has done that has failed? He seems like someone who sees more than five moves ahead on the board and then proceeds with his work. If that kind of person extends his hand, there’s no reason to push it away. In fact, you should hold on to his hand even more firmly so that he can’t pull it away!”

Chairman Kim Seong-yoon was famous for his fiery personality.

However, he also showed a conservative attitude in corporate management.

But this time, he was showing a fiery personality in corporate management.

“Should I accept all of Chairman Kim Min-jae’s proposals?”

“You have to add more to that. Invest all the money from selling your stake in Nikola in the Saemangeum Chemical Complex, and add more headquarters funds to increase the scale.”

“I will follow my father’s will.”

Chairman Kim Seong-yoon threw down the gamble.

As with all gambling, if you don’t win, it’s meaningless.

However, since I was betting on Chairman Kim Min-jae, it was also a gamble with a very high probability of winning.