The Chaebol Who Flies From Space - Chapter 21
Only Noblemtl
21. Cold but warm winter (2)
“Director Cho, why do you only plan to produce wine domestically? Aren’t there many vineyards overseas?”
“···.”
Director Cho shut his mouth at my words.
It was obvious that people would complain that grapes were difficult to grow or that there was a shortage of wine experts, but they never thought of acquiring a foreign winery.
“Aren’t there wineries all over Napa Valley in California and Coonawarra in Australia? I hear Chilean wine is also good these days.”
“The government will not allow the acquisition of a winery. It’s not that the previous founder, the chairman, didn’t try. He tried to buy a winery in Spain, but the government did not allow the acquisition. Furthermore, because of the IMF, overseas investment is not allowed at all now.”
Is there such a frustrating person?
“Hasn’t the world changed? Right now, we are concerned about foreign currency going overseas because of the IMF, but let a little more time pass. What was it like before the IMF? Was overseas investment difficult?”
“At that time, it was not difficult to simply report overseas investment.”
“How long do you think the Daewoo issue will last? The media will blow the whistle and say that the country is in turmoil, but the aftereffects won’t last long. The government is putting all its efforts into it, so how long will it last? There will be difficulties, but an IMF-like situation won’t happen again while you’re working at the company. Also, the market is going global. That means overseas investment is getting easier. I can’t tolerate such a product being released under the company’s name. If they discontinued it, they would have thrown it away.”
When I revealed my firm determination, Director Cho’s expression hardened like a rock.
If we discontinue Toad Wine, those in charge of wine will have nowhere to go.
These are people who have been raised as experts.
If wine production were to stop, workers at the factory would be able to close the production facility and be reassigned to other areas with higher labor demands, but more than half of the head office staff would have to leave the company.
“Do we really have to discontinue Toad Wine? We will find ways to gradually improve the quality over time.”
I paused for a moment to collect my thoughts after hearing Director Cho’s words.
“The sales of Toad Wine are okay, but the problem is that it doesn’t give a good image to the company’s brand. A soju company makes and sells cheap wine? If the company only makes soju, it wouldn’t be a big problem, but the problem is that it also affects whiskey and beer.”
Capital Q, a legendary liquor made by Lotte Brewery that is said to make you sober up after two days, and Toad Wine, which is said to taste like soju, were representative liquors that tarnished the company’s image in the Korean liquor market.
I passed over Capital Q, a low-end rum, because it wasn’t my company’s liquor, and I didn’t feel the need to produce wine that wasn’t profitable.
“I’m not saying we’re going to discontinue it right now. I’m saying we should prepare over time. If we prepare now, we’ll be able to buy it consistently when it comes up for sale in the future.”
“Are you saying that you’re not buying one or two wineries? That’s going to cost a lot of money.”
What are you worried about? You’re working hard to earn money in the soju section. And you’re not saying that you should buy it all at once, are you?”
“So you’re not suggesting that we give up on the domestic wine sector altogether?”
“I’m not saying that we should give up the domestic winemaking business as you’re worried about. However, I’m saying that we can’t do it the way we are now. What kind of wine is it if it tastes like soju instead of wine? Our long-term goal is to grow grapes that are suitable for the domestic climate and make wine based on them. We’re also saying that we should increase the number of experts and grow high-quality wines from overseas. As the economy develops, doesn’t the demand for high-quality alcohol increase? While demand for popular liquors is limited, production of high-quality liquors is limited, so it’s even more advantageous. If production is limited and demand increases, what will happen to the price?”
At this point, Director Cho also agreed.
“The price of high-end liquor will go up. I understand. From now on, I will prepare to buy foreign wineries that come up for sale.”
***
TV has been noisy for quite some time over the Lee Yong-woo Gate. The scandal that broke out after Lee Yong-woo, who called himself a venture capitalist and committed fraud, was acquitted by the prosecution, has not easily died down as the prosecution, the National Tax Service, and even the staff of the Blue House have all been implicated in the scandal.
The more I dug into it, the more people related to it emerged.
The Minister of Justice and the Prosecutor General resigned after testimony emerged that the Prosecutor General’s brother-in-law had acted directly as a broker.
Everyone watching TV and reading the newspaper was busy clicking their tongues.
But those who knew the inside story of this incident were different. While I was having a meal with my family for the first time in a long time, my grandfather started telling me a story.
“Those who have been oppressing us for so long have drawn their swords.”
“It’s time to explode. Isn’t this a statement that they don’t want to miss out on the next government if they keep quiet under the current government?”
The next presidential election is in 2003, so now is the time to expose the current administration’s shortcomings and gather opposition.
The easiest way is to raise the issue of corruption.
There have been authors who have had the president personally step forward and demand money, and there have also been presidents who have refused to accept a single penny.
Since you’ve done everything you wanted to do, you probably want to pretend to be clean and not get your hands dirty, but your subordinates who have been rolling around in the mud their whole lives thought differently.
They blatantly demanded political funds, and if they refused, they conducted tax investigations.
From the perspective of the company being treated, there is no way not to give it. If you put it in their mouths, they won’t cause trouble.
Neglecting this led to the collapse of Kukje, ranked 7th in the business world, and Dongmyeong Wood, ranked 1st in tax before that, went bankrupt.
“Fortunately, this time it didn’t have anything to do with a large corporation.”
This is literally a case where a conman blew up a treasure ship business and used it to manipulate stock prices. The problem started when the prosecution tried to gloss over this.
“It must have been a bit urgent since there is only a year and a half left until the presidential election.”
“Are you okay?”
My father suddenly asked me a question while I was busy using my chopsticks with my ears open.
“What is it?”
“You also invest a lot in venture businesses, don’t you?”
It was my father’s concern that there might be some connection. What the heck! How could I get involved with such a rascal!
I felt bad, but then I felt better when I saw the worried eyes of everyone gathered at the table looking at me.
“Not at all. I don’t know anything about that kind of pyramid, and I don’t want to know anything about it. And I’ve never tried to directly manage ventures, so there’s no problem.”
How many legitimate places are there to invest in that would involve such a pyramid scheme? The reason why the new rich suddenly fall in their day is because the foundation to support and sustain them is weak.
Because the foundation that stands on it is weak, it keeps relying on expedients, and when a flood comes, it is simply swept away.
“Yes, Yongwon is doing well. But I heard that the soju company he recently acquired is making a lot of money? How much has he made so far? Can’t you tell the shareholders?”
I scratched my cheek at my grandfather’s words.
“You can just ask Chief Do.”
There’s no use bragging about making money.
“Hey, that guy left the company and has been hiding his face ever since. When I asked him about it, he kept his mouth shut, saying it was a company secret.”
As I kept my mouth shut, my younger sister, who had been eating silently at the dinner table, joined in the conversation among the adults.
“Brother, I’m curious too. How much did you earn? I heard you earn a lot.”
I couldn’t help it because even my younger sister was curious.
In fact, the amount of money earned from investments in the United States is much larger, but very few people know about it.
I thought back to the report I saw yesterday. The profit so far is 498.7 billion. Both exports and domestic sales have been selling out as fast as the factories are running.
“I made about 500 billion.”
“Wow! It’s been a while since you took over the company.”
“···. This is incomparable to the performance of food. I lost to my son.”
Ramen is also selling well, but the cost of sales is high compared to the sales. Even if the price is raised, there is a limit to the profit.
“Cheer up, honey. You’ll win someday.”
Mother patted Father’s shoulder lightly.
“Winning! How can you win when soju sells so well in China and Russia?”
“They say that water merchants make a lot of money. I am raking in Chinese and Russian money.”
I bragged about it to my heart’s content while I was at it. Where else can you go and brag about money to your heart’s content?
When you’re with your family like this, you should do whatever you want.
If you try to do this to other people, you’ll just get cursed at and be jealous.
“You’re doing well. If you’ve earned a lot, you should take care of tomorrow too, right?”
The words of my grandfather who had been praising me became more subtle.
“What are you doing?”
“Helping the kids.”
“Aha! Of course I should help.”
I thought it was a good thing to help sick children. My grandfather used his own money, not the company’s, to run a foundation that helped needy children with surgeries every year.
“How much are you willing to give away?”
“There are many areas where we need company funds right now, so I will support them with my personal funds.”
The grandfather’s face, which I had been looking forward to, became distorted.
“You punk, you should pay the money from a company that makes a lot of money. How much money do you have!”
The father, who was listening to the conversation between his grandson, quietly intervened.
“Father, he is a wealthy man, even more so than he looks. He must have much more money to manage with his own funds than me or you. That’s right! The investment return on the fund he sold was 150%. My money has increased by that much.”
Grandfather’s eyes widened as if he was hearing this for the first time.
My father, who joined the first fund of WD Investment Company, named after our food, was surprised by the huge profits he earned in a short period of time.
The investment company I founded was established as an asset management company with 30 billion won in corporate funds from the beginning, so fund issuance was free.
I created a 100 billion won fund as the first fund, and most of the investment money is my money.
And the target of investment was oil futures.
Oil prices rose above $30 a barrel amid fears following the terrorist attacks, but fell to $20 as Saudi Arabia increased production.
As oil prices soared with fund funds, they quickly sold oil futures and bought put options.
The fund made a profit of over 150% in just one month after its creation.
The financial statements are sent to investors once a quarter, and my father reads them.
This time, my mother’s eyes widened.
“You must have made a lot of money this time. So, honey, how much did you put into the fund?”
“···.”
Only then did my father realize that he had said the wrong thing and kept his mouth shut, but he couldn’t help but respond when my mother pinched his ribs.
“Five chapters.”
“Big one, small one?”
“Big thing.”
Mother’s eyes narrowed with laughter.
“Father, this time the foundation will be rich. Yongwon said he would put in money, and since Uncle has earned a lot of money, he will put in a lot of money. This time, we will be able to help the children who we couldn’t help last time because we didn’t have enough money.”
“Haha, yeah, that’s good. That’s good.”
It was a father who got upset because he said the wrong thing and a grandfather who burst into hearty laughter.