The Chaebol Who Flies From Space - Chapter 98



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The Tycoon Who Flies Into Space Episode 98

Episode 98: Toad NASDAQ Listing (3)

I sat in the chairman’s office and waited for the results of the public offering.

“What happened?”

Kim In-young, who had just finished talking on the phone with a Merrill Lynch representative, reported with a bright face.

“They say that from day one, individuals have been flocking to Merrill Lynch’s branches.”

“See, I told you not to worry.”

The success of the IPO of Toad was already predicted based on preliminary research. Rather, the concern was how to replenish the diluted shares during the listing.

“Even the daily economic newspapers are very interested in the news. There are also many inquiries from institutional investors such as pension funds. They seem to be very busy.”

The staff members seemed to be troubled by various issues, as Kim In-young’s eyes were dark.

“My staff really don’t listen to me.”

“How could I not be worried? This is the first direct listing on a U.S. stock exchange since the founding of the country.”

“Now that we’ve taken the first step, I think many more listings will follow this path in the future.”

“We’ve already filled 100% on the first day, so we don’t know how much more competitive it will be in the future.”

“If there were eyes, they would buy our stocks. Haa! I’m worried. When will we reach 65% again?”

“Mr. Chairman, are you really going to buy back our company’s stock?”

“That’s what they call it. I can’t sleep at night if my stake is small.”

I once had my company hijacked over a stock issue. I completely took over the guy who attacked me without knowing it was my company.

He drove the company he owned into bankruptcy due to financial pressure, tore it into pieces and blew it up without a trace.

To be honest, the companies I’ve owned were ones that would never fail and would continue to grow.

In terms of investment value, no other company can match it.

Why wouldn’t you buy stocks that allow you to increase your stake, protect your management rights, and make money?

Director Kim In-young shook his head at my words.

“You are truly unique.”

“It’s strange. I’m just being honest and saying that I’m greedy. If you want to make a lot of money, you have to be greedy. Without that, no matter how big a company you build, it’s just a house on sand.”

There are countless companies that fail due to lack of desire.

There are many Korean conglomerates that are difficult to find traces of once they are passed down to the second or third generation.

It’s better to try to grow it and then fail. When I see a company that fails because it does nothing and can’t keep up with the changing times, I can’t help but sigh.

“Is domestic politics still the same?”

After the presidential election, there was a huge discord within the ruling party. Those in the ruling party who supported the president were in the minority.

Those in power did not step down, but insisted on their vested rights and clashed with the president.

“It’s quite noisy. It’s astonishing that even the ruling party is not stepping forward to reform and is just sitting back and watching.”

“Exclude all the incumbent members of the National Assembly from the list I gave you last time. It seems like the next general election will be a bigger storm than the presidential election.”

“Korean politics rarely change. There will be no change in support base depending on the region.”

The conflict between Honam and Yeongnam is not something that started yesterday or today. President Park Ji-hee, who was behind candidate Yoon Yeo-sun, won the presidential election by a narrow margin thanks to support from Jeolla Province, and then it hit her in the back of the head.

Perhaps because they felt that things couldn’t go on like this, they changed the direct election system to an indirect election system and the presidential election to a gymnasium election.

And by fanning regional sentiments in Jeolla-do and Gyeongsang-do, he was able to easily create a political base.

This has clearly divided the regional support bases for each party.

“Director Kim, do you think things will change once President Hyun becomes president?”

“… … I don’t think it will change.”

“The vested interests are violently opposing him, but he has no intention of using force to suppress them. His ideals are too high to engage in real politics. It’s unfortunate, but of course, there will be rough patches from now on.”

“I don’t know what you’re going to do in the future.”

Kim In-young clicked her tongue.

“I think it’s growing pains. Politicians talk about the nation and the people, but in reality, they’re just trying to eat well and live well. If you’re too obsessed with ideals like the current president, it’s hard to live in this world.”

From a business standpoint, it was good to have political stability.

“Let’s stop talking about painful politics and start talking about genetics.”

“As planned, we have increased the number of drilling rigs to two. We also report that the additional drilling towers ordered will be installed as soon as they are manufactured.”

“Make sure to increase it to 2 million barrels by the end of the year. Given the current situation, the oil price is starting to rise. It will continue to rise for 10 years.”

“I really hope so. The OPEC Secretariat has requested that we attend this meeting.”

“Those guys are really tenacious. Why do they cling so persistently to things they say they won’t do?”

“They are trying to attract us by any means necessary, even because of the low international oil prices.”

“If we join there, the US will be very happy. There is a reason why the government is delaying it for us. Isn’t it because they are in an awkward position, stuck in the middle, that they are putting us first?”

Although the proportion has decreased as the domestic construction market has revived, construction is still dependent on the Middle East.

OPEC consistently urged them to join, but they flatly refused.

“There are no construction companies in the group, so there is no need to worry about Middle Easterners. Those guys who used to lead camels have been straining their necks for a little oil.”

During the oil shock, the country was in danger because it could not import oil.

The reason the entire nation rejoiced when the West Sea Oil Field was successfully developed was because of the sadness they felt at that time.

After barely building an oil refinery, the price of oil skyrocketed and the entire country of Korea almost went bankrupt.

Even though they had developed two oil fields, they were still struggling to meet their own needs.

Exploration around the genetic area was still ongoing.

The plan was to become completely self-sufficient in oil starting this year and to increase production to a level where exports would be possible starting next year.

This is the first step towards becoming a true oil-producing country.

“Are you going to develop even a small-scale oil field?”

“Of course. Oil prices will continue to rise steadily in the future, so what if we find something small? We should develop it if we find it. The Micronesian oil fields are also progressing well, right?”

“We will begin full-scale production next year. We plan to place orders with the three major shipbuilding companies and pump out oil as a top priority.”

“You said that they were developing it semi-submersibly?”

“Yes, I think it will be more efficient than a fixed system in the long run.”

Fixed types are relatively inexpensive, but have high closure costs.

Even in the case of the North Sea oil fields, the cost of safely shutting in oil fields was so enormous that many wells were simply covered up.

Environmental issues are increasingly becoming a problem.

Unlike domestic oil fields, the right answer was to quickly and thoroughly dig up overseas oil fields.

Five additional oil candidates were discovered and being explored in the waters around Micronesia.

“Exxon has asked to buy Herr.”

“Again?”

These guys were some serious ticks too.

There have been endless requests to sell Herr, a resource exploration company that uses drilling technology that is one step ahead of the existing majors, but would I ever sell?

“This time, they are raising the acquisition cost and saying they will pay 30 billion dollars.”

“Would I be crazy enough to hand over Hercules at that price? Even if they offered me $300 billion, which is ten times more, I wouldn’t hand it over. Hercules is a company that I like to put forward. If I sell it, it will be difficult to develop overseas resources in the future.”

On the surface, Hertz appears to be a thoroughly American company.

So, when developing overseas oil fields, we thoroughly put Herr first.

The exploration and drilling technology we have has already been transferred to Seohae Petrochemical, but because we don’t know this, those who keep clinging to it come out.

“I don’t know because it is an unlisted company and they didn’t disclose it.”

“But if we just let it be known that we missed the point, the US government won’t stay still, so we should just leave it alone even though it’s annoying.”

“There are more and more spies in Her. There are also many offers to scout our staff. It’s because of the drilling technology.”

The technology to drill at a depth of 10,000 meters was more than 10 years advanced compared to other oil companies.

That was also why drillship orders were pouring in like hot cakes.

I took it and tried to reverse engineer the drilling rig, but it was impossible.

“Tell them to take it apart. Didn’t they announce that if you break the seal, you can’t get after-sales service? If you come to fix something that’s broken, they’ll charge you a hefty price like they do now.”

In less than six months after it was built, a drill ship broke down and was brought in for repairs. In one case, they took it apart to reverse engineer the parts and then blew it up.

When a ship is built and breaks down, the AS period is one year, but there was an exception if the seal was broken.

They’ll fix it for you at an incredibly high price.

“The complaints are overwhelming.”

“If you don’t like it, we can hand it over again. There are already many places that need drill ships, so we can just buy it back.”

When the technological gap with competitors widens, you have to pay a high price and wait for a number even if you don’t want to.

Even after doubling the number of dry docks within a year of acquiring WD Shipbuilding, orders continued to pour in.

Domestic competitors also rushed to buy engines, and Korean shipyards were busy expanding their docks.

As the economy boomed, it became increasingly difficult for shipyards to hire people.

Most of the low-cost bulk carriers were handed over to domestic competitors, and WD Shipbuilding focused on building special-purpose ships that make money.

Drillships, FPSOs, and LNG carriers had different margins than low-cost ships.

At first, they struggled with manufacturing, but as they gained experience, they were now able to produce special ships one after another.

As wages rose significantly, job seekers waited in line to get hired at WD Chosun.

“As labor costs rise and it becomes harder to find people, there is talk of setting up a shipyard in China.”

“They are just going to eat up the labor costs, so do we need to do that? If we build a shipyard there, it would be the same as handing over all of our shipbuilding technology. How can we trust the Communist Party and build a factory? How can we build one?”

It was an incredibly stupid thing to do.

They say it’s profitable now because labor costs are cheap and the market is large, but I was blinded by the desire to make money in the moment, so I ended up spending my own money to help my competitors grow.

“Isn’t it inevitable that shipbuilders move to places with lower labor costs? The reason Korea has the world’s highest order volume is ultimately due to labor costs.”

“It’s frustrating. That’s why I’m developing technology. You said STX is building a shipyard in China. That’s 100% doomed. If they build a shipyard in China, you should notify them that you’ll stop selling engines. Are you crazy enough to provide engines to a company that built a shipyard in China? If you’re not careful, they might steal your technology.”

“Other shipbuilders will strongly object to your interference in management!”

“You object? Just tell me to try it. I’ll kill you.”

It seems like they are taking me for granted because I sold engines to domestic companies, but it was purely a reciprocal act to strengthen domestic shipbuilding competitiveness.

What are they going to do if I don’t sell my stuff?

I simply ignored my competitors’ nagging to share their engine manufacturing technology.

“They have great influence in the country.”

“Where? Modern and Samjeong? If you keep provoking me, I’ll create an automobile and semiconductor company.”

“Mr. Chairman! The government did not give permission because it was excessive competition. And aren’t ship engines and automobile engines completely different technologies?”

“Then we can buy an automobile company from Europe. Marine engine technology originally came from automobile engines. It is a technology that is 10 years ahead of existing engine technology.”

To be honest, it was a technology that was more than 50 years ahead of its competitors.

“If I build an automobile factory, the modern and Japanese automobile companies will be devastated. They are still sitting tight because they can’t handle the repercussions. From the perspective of those who own and develop oil fields, it’s like cutting their own flesh. If we build automobile engines with infinitely high energy efficiency, oil prices will go down.”

“… … I’m really speechless. When I look at you, Chairman, I understand what it means to say that one outstanding genius can feed millions or tens of millions.”