The Chaebol Who Flies From Space - Chapter 96



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The Tycoon Who Flies Into Space Episode 96

Episode 96: Toad NASDAQ listing

The boom in the semiconductor and petrochemical industries has doubled the efforts to stimulate the domestic economy and boost the growth rate.

The second growth, no less than that of the 80s, has begun.

“Oh my, it’s getting harder and harder to find people.”

Drilling sites required not only specialists, but also many day laborers to perform miscellaneous tasks.

Lee Jeong-bin snickered at the sound of Kwak In-young’s death.

“Then is it good that it is easy to find people like before? I thought the country would collapse during the IMF crisis. But now, haven’t we completely washed away the shadows of the past? Instead of complaining about it being hard to find people, raise wages.”

“Oh my, brother, you really are talking like a gentleman. That’s right! You are a gentleman, and I am a murderer! If you raise my salary, what will the chairman say? If you raise my salary, the profit will decrease.”

“That gentleman won’t even bat an eyelid at the decrease in profits. The last time I saw him, he didn’t really care about the profits from the Seokhae oil field. We just have to manage these oil fields well without any major incidents. He just told us to be careful about safety because there have been so many accidents in offshore oil fields. It’s because they’re kept quiet, so it’s not widely known, but I heard that there have been just as many accidents in the North Sea oil field. He told us to be careful about safety because this is a key area that feeds our country and revives our ruined economy. If the North Koreans were after us, where would they go first?”

“That’s a really good story. I also need to see the Chairman’s face sometime. When will he come to Korea? I heard our Chairman is having a hard time in the US these days.”

“I don’t know about the Chairman’s personal affairs, but he will probably be back soon. He must have gone out to avoid the noisy presidential election.”

Kwak In-young waved her hand at Lee Jeong-bin’s words.

“Oh my, don’t talk nonsense. It’s the time of year when you’re in a relationship where you’re really busy filming a movie, but your wife is busy. Do you think the chairman would want to leave his wife?”

“Is that so?”

“He probably won’t be coming in for a while.”

“What about domestic businesses? Are the companies doing well?”

“What are you worried about? There’s Park Young-joo, the president of Holdings. He’s basically the head of the country, and I heard he made a noise like a toad last time. We didn’t care because we were new, but they’re completely destroyed. Not only civil cases, but there are two criminal arrests. Those who get caught will probably spend the rest of their lives in prison.”

“Was that so? I saw the official document you sent me, and it seems like things have gotten pretty serious.”

“Don’t ignore me and say I’m neglecting worldly affairs, but you should also listen to the internal affairs of the company. Politics are played out within the company. In the past, we were the workers so we didn’t care, but now you’re the top manager.”

“Where did you hear that?”

“There was a sales manager from WD Chosun who knew all about this stuff, so I overheard him talking about it while drinking.”

Hearing these words from his close friend, Lee Jeong-bin realized once again that he was indeed the vice president.

“You and I are lucky. I was promoted to vice president right away without having to deal with office politics because I am the best oil expert in Korea. You don’t have to worry about that because you are under me.”

Kwak In-young made a puzzled face at Lee Jeong-bin’s words.

“Is that so?”

“Yes, the WD Chosun people are probably going to try to do the same thing internally in the company because they used to do it, but the last time I saw it, President Jeong Yong-in is not such an easy person. I guess they’ll be complaining soon too.”

“Is that the gentleman? To me, he just seems like a kind and generous person.”

“If that’s true, would he have risen to the position of vice president at another conglomerate? Since he’s said to be an expert in the shipbuilding industry, he must have something hidden. He may seem like a nice person, but don’t forget that he’s a management expert brought in by the CEO.”

“Well, if that’s what you’re saying, then it must be like that.”

Lee Jeong-bin gave a warning to his close friend who had followed him since he was young.

“It’s not the 80s, so I won’t say old-fashioned things like business is good for the country, but you need to wake up and manage your employees. Remember that if something happens here, it’s like a big bomb. If something big happens, I won’t be able to protect you.”

“Hey, I’m a kid. Don’t worry, I’ll keep a close eye on those guys below so no accidents happen.”

“Yes, I believe it.”

* * *

As soon as President Cho Dong-won returned from his son’s engagement party, he was so busy with work that he had no time to breathe.

I was just taking a breather after finishing up the busy paperwork when Vice President Kwak Ji-moon came in saying he had some business to attend to.

“I guess the boss has finally taken a breather. You said you were out of your mind a little while ago.”

“Welcome. I’m here to pay my overdue bills. By the way, what do you have in your hand?”

“This is an invitation. My eldest grandson is getting married this time.”

“Your eldest son, Yeong-cheol, got married early. Is your eldest grandson already old enough to get married?”

“So, after graduating from high school and getting a job, he said he was getting married. I couldn’t stop him.”

Jo Dong-won laughed to himself, saying, “It’s a fake.”

“You got married early, too. How old was Yeongcheol when he had you? If I remember correctly, he was 19.”

“Yeah, that’s right. I have nothing to say since this guy looks like me, but he tastes bitter.”

“But is it really that bad to have your grandson get married?”

“What good would it do if a guy who hasn’t even served in the military gets into an accident and gets married?”

“Oh my, I’ll see my great-grandchild soon. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen my grandchild.”

“President Yongwon got engaged, so he’ll probably have a grandchild soon.”

“Where? Isn’t the daughter-in-law a famous actress? I don’t know when she’ll have the baby.”

I checked the invitation and it was next month.

“It’s May 15th, so if nothing comes up, I’ll definitely attend.”

“Okay, I’m done with my work. I’m going to go out.”

“Since you’re here for a bit, let’s take a look at the work. Is the factory doing well?”

“After coming back to us, things are going well without any major issues. Production is also increasing. The problem is that President Cho Yong-won won’t make more maturing barrels. He said there are no ingredients.”

“I also tried to talk about it and was rejected. It seems like it’s not easy to make.”

“It’s a shame that we can’t increase it beyond 5 billion, but what can we do?”

Although WD Ramen became a subsidiary of Woori Foods and the company owner changed, not much has changed.

There were no major changes other than Kwak Ji-moon being appointed our vice president.

The factory was still busy.

“I also asked for a large maturing vat to mass-maturate mayonnaise, but was immediately turned down. They said there wasn’t enough for export soju.”

“Oh, my. The profits of these two items are not comparable.”

I heard a lot of stories about Kwak Ji-moon when he was at WD.

Even without trying to find out, rumors are bound to spread that soju for export has huge margins.

It was a well-known fact that toad soju made profits in the trillions every year.

“They say that even if you want to make soju for export, there is a shortage of materials to make maturing barrels. Even if there is a supply request, they say they cannot produce it, so what can I say?”

Vice President Kwak Ji-moon, who had been nodding, said something unexpected.

“By the way, what do you think the price of wheat will be this year?”

“What about the price of wheat? Have you heard anything?”

The food business is sensitive to the price of raw materials. The international price of wheat soared due to the Iraq War, but then fell again as the war situation became safe.

“When I met with President Yongwon last time, I told him that the price of wheat was likely to rise, so I asked him to sign a long-term contract. So I told WD to buy wheat through a long-term contract with the mill, but it seems like they don’t care.”

“A long-term contract? I thought the Iraq War would end easily, so I just went about my business as usual, but Yongwon seems to think it will last a long time. I didn’t pay much attention to the wheat contract because it was handled exclusively by the mill. I’ll have to check it out.”

“President Yongwon’s eyes are crooked as he watches the market turn. It seems he thinks the Iraq War will last a long time.”

Jo Dong-won frowned.

I was upset that my son didn’t tell me this in advance, and I had to think about how to deal with it.

As Jo Dong-won became lost in thought, Kwak Ji-moon stood up from his seat.

“President Dongwon, I’m going. And if you really don’t know, don’t worry about it alone. Just ask President Yongwon. President Yongwon isn’t the type of person to say anything if you ask him about something like that.”

Is that so?

Jo Dong-won smacked his lips as he watched Kwak Ji-moon’s back.

My son was so smart on his own that I had no interest in raising him. Not long after starting his business, he rose to the position of chairman of one of the largest companies in Korea.

I was shocked to hear that Toad was going to be listed on NASDAQ.

Thanks to this, the stock price of our food company, which owns 10% of Toad’s shares, has skyrocketed.

As the trading volume decreased significantly, exceeding 3 million won per share, talk arose that a stock split would be necessary.

Jo Dong-won, who had been thinking alone for a while, entered the chairman’s office.

Jo Tae-young, who was reading a document alone in the chairman’s office, wondered what had happened when his son came in with a serious expression on his face.

“Did something bad happen? You don’t look well.”

“Vice President Kwak came to hand out invitations and we were talking about this and that, and the topic of wheat came up. Yongwon said he had signed a long-term contract for wheat last year.”

“Really? This market didn’t say anything?”

The company that exclusively imports the wheat used in our food products is not Woori Foods, but Woori Flour, of which my second daughter-in-law is the major shareholder.

“When I called my sister-in-law, she said that WD had requested it and had already signed a long-term contract with Cargill.”

“Wheat prices have gone up a lot lately, haven’t they? It’s fortunate that you signed a long-term contract.”

“And last year, our food operating profit exceeded 1 trillion for the first time.”

Chairman Cho Tae-young smiled faintly at his son’s boast about his management performance.

“I benefited greatly from the dividend of toad soju.”

“The export volume is similar to that of toads, but the profit margin is so different. It makes my mouth feel bitter.”

“Because I feel like I lost the competition to my son?”

“Why is that so?”

“It can’t be helped because the items are different. Anyway, I can’t sleep at night when I look at this. I like it so much.”

I asked Chairman Cho out of curiosity what document he was reading.

“What is that?”

“This is the daily status of Seohae Oil’s oil field production.”

Chairman Cho’s words startled President Cho Dong-won.

“Should I send it here? It won’t be visible to the outside world.”

“I told Yongwon that Vice President Lee Jeongbin sends me messages every day.”

“How about these days? If you include the Cheonghae oil field, wouldn’t production increase considerably?”

“We achieved 1 million barrels per day yesterday! They say they will increase it to 2.5 million barrels this year to completely cover domestic demand.”

“Thank goodness. Now, it seems that Korea’s genetic resources are taking hold.”

Chairman Cho Tae-young was moved by President Cho Dong-won’s words.

“When I was young and experienced the Japanese colonial period firsthand and the Korean War when the country was in ruins, I was truly devastated. We had no way to make a living, so we had to boil the garbage from the US military base and make a stew to eat. It was such a difficult time for the country. But now that we have become an oil-producing country, I can’t tell you how happy I am that the oil we have extracted is enough for the entire country.”

“Is it because of oil? The whole country is booming. There’s a fuss that the boom of the 80s has come back. How well did the country do back then?”

“It’s better now than it was then. We have canned oil now. Yongwon said that international oil prices will continue to rise. He said that he is rushing to expand production facilities to have production facilities ready before oil prices rise.”

President Cho Dong-won spoke up in response to Chairman Cho Tae-young’s words.

“He keeps his mouth shut to me, but he talks nonsense to my father.”

Chairman Cho Tae-young chuckled at his son’s tantrum.

“Yongwon is not a man with a tight mouth, and he is a man who is eager to brag about himself. If you coax him little by little, he will listen to everything.”

“I say this because I am easy-going with my father and strict with me.”

“What can I do? It’s your fault. Didn’t you treat Yongwon like that before?”

“When I look at Yongwon, I feel frustrated when I compare him to when he was younger. What should I do?”

“Do you think that I wasn’t like that when I saw you? You were the same in my eyes. I just kept my mouth shut because I felt sorry for you and Dongjin. When I was young, if I had acted out my temper, you would have been in trouble too. Every time that happened, your mother would stop me. She said that I was still young and immature.”

“Ahem, I was different from Yongwon.”

“That’s your opinion. Anyway, how do you plan on dealing with the surplus this year?”

“Even after paying dividends this time, the company still has 1.6 trillion won in cash left, so it is very inefficient to invest in deposits and bonds like we are doing now. Looking at Yongwon, he is investing in U.S. stocks, so I think we should entrust him to WD Investment and invest in the U.S.”

“Okay, if that’s what you want to do, then do it. Take care of it.”

“It’s hard to see Dongjin these days. He doesn’t even answer the phone when I call him.”

“That guy, he’s doing really well because he does what suits him. I used to think it was a game company, but I heard that last year’s profit was 300 billion.”

President Cho Dong-won was shocked by the unexpected result.

“Oh my, game companies don’t make a lot of money either.”

“I heard that the Chinese market is growing explosively. This year, he’s developing a game while trying to surpass 1 trillion, and I’ve never seen him so excited. When he was running a mill, his face was really pale.”

“I guess there’s something that suits everyone.”

“Yeah, I was wrong. Yongwon, when I think about it, is really Yong Yong. Dongjin likes games so much that he entrusted his company to him. I heard he even gave up 30% of the shares.”

“That guy is a jerk. Look at how he ate the toad F&B raw. The expected stock price is 70 dollars when it is listed on NASDAQ this time. If the stock price of 100 won goes up to 70,000 won, how much is that?”

“Our food companies that have shares also hit the jackpot.”

“But, father, don’t you think it’s strange that neither the Ministry of Strategy and Finance nor the Financial Supervisory Service said anything? At first, I thought it wouldn’t be approved.”

Chairman Cho Tae-young smiled brightly at his son’s words.

“What’s strange about it? They keep their mouths shut because it’s profitable for them. Do you know how much stock they bought in Toad? I don’t know, but there’s probably no one in high positions in the government who hasn’t made a fortune in Toad stocks. They made back their initial investment in cash dividends, but if they list on the NASDAQ, the stock price will go up again. Anyone who interferes with that becomes a public enemy. I heard that a tactless section chief from the Ministry of Strategy and Finance came forward and raised an objection in an official setting that Toad should be listed on the Korean stock market instead of the NASDAQ, and was completely destroyed and kicked out.”