Golden Spoon Investment Portfolio - Chapter 208

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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208. I can’t afford to resort to petty tricks just to save a few pennies and then face criticism for it.

That afternoon.
It was just past six o’clock, but winter had arrived early, and the sun had already dipped below the horizon, casting the surroundings in twilight.
Beneath the Dongjak Bridge, congested with rush-hour traffic, a BMW sedan approached with its headlights blazing brightly before coming to a slow stop along the roadside.
A moment later, the car door opened and two men stepped out.
It was Seok-won and Team Leader Choi Ho-geun.
The snow that had fallen since morning had mercifully stopped, but as the cold wind from the river swept across them, their bodies shivered from the chill.

“Where is it?”

Seok-won asked while adjusting the collar of his cashmere coat.
Team Leader Choi Ho-geun glanced around before pointing with his fingertip toward a spot directly beneath the bridge pillar where gray concrete blocks were stacked.

“Right there.”
“Let’s go then.”

Seok-won gave a small nod and took a long stride forward, with Team Leader Choi Ho-geun quickly following behind.
As they descended the slightly uneven slope, an unexpectedly flat and spacious area opened up before them.
There, a man wearing a thick puffer jacket and a baseball cap pulled low sat alone with two fishing rods laid out in front of him.
When Seok-won turned to look, Team Leader Choi Ho-geun confirmed with a nod.

“That’s Lee Chul-gyun.”

Having identified his target, Seok-won approached with audible footsteps.
The man, who had been sitting in a folding chair with his hands thrust deep into his puffer jacket pockets as if dozing, finally lifted his head slightly.

“What business could the second young master of Daheung Group, rumored to be an investment genius throughout Yeouido, possibly have with me?”

Despite the gruff tone, Seok-won responded calmly without showing any displeasure.

“It seems my name is quite well-known.”

At those words, a brief flash of interest flickered across Lee Chul-gyun’s eyes before fading away.

“I thought you were just a parachute appointment, but you’ve struck it big with O-Gwang Industries and Cheonho Steel, and recently you’ve been hitting consecutive home runs making substantial profits with yen. It would be stranger if word didn’t get around.”

Seok-won chuckled softly and nodded in agreement.
Investment Team 1 at Daehung Securities, which had inflated their stakes significantly with yen longs before shifting to short bets, had liquidated all their positions a few days ago and concluded their months-long yen investment entirely.
They’d purchased at 80 yen and sold at an average of 103 yen, netting a 28.75% profit.
On top of that, the gains had ballooned even further thanks to the 3x leverage they’d employed.
Investment Team 1, having generated millions of dollars in profit through their bold yen strategy and far exceeded this year’s targets, received direct praise from CEO Go Young-il and were even promised special performance bonuses—the atmosphere was absolutely festive.
The results had been so sweet that even Kim Jung-sik, the Investment Team 1 leader who’d relied on antacids throughout the investment period due to the forex market’s extreme daily volatility, regretted not using more leverage.
Just then, watching a brilliantly lit Han River cruise boat slowly ascending the river, Seok-won opened his mouth.

“I heard you’re quite the player in Yeouido.”

Lee Chul-gyun glanced briefly at Manager Choi Ho-geun, who stood several paces behind, then straightened his gaze forward.

“Well, I can guess who’s been running his mouth.”

Lee Chul-gyun, stroking his thick stubble, continued in a gravelly voice.

“Even so, my price tag is rather steep.”

Seok-won wordlessly withdrew an envelope from his inner pocket and extended it.
As Lee Chul-gyun accepted the envelope and extracted its contents with his fishing-gloved hand, it was filled with 100,000-won checks.
Lifting his gaze at what appeared to be well over 5 million won, Seok-won spoke.

“That’s the retainer. Once you finish the job, I’ll give you the same amount again.”
“Truly befitting a chaebol heir—you certainly have deep pockets.”

Lee Chul-gyun stuffed the bundle of checks back into the envelope and asked.

“What’s the job?”
“Are you aware of the recent exposé article Sechang Daily News ran about a Securities Supervisory Authority executive involved in employment favoritism?”
“You mean that bastard Yu Jin-ho’s article.”

At that, Seok-won’s eyes gleamed with interest.

“You know him?”
“He’s got a reputation in this business for having dirty connections. We’re not particularly close, so you can rest assured.”

Lee Chul-gyun shrugged as he answered.
At the reputation of being a journalist with murky dealings, Seok-won inwardly confirmed his suspicions were correct.

“Because of that article, Choi Bok-rak from the Securities Supervisory Authority faced disciplinary action. I’d like you to look into whether someone orchestrated everything behind the scenes.”
“With Yu Jin-ho and the Securities Supervisory Authority involved, this is going to require considerable effort.”
“If you bring me satisfactory results, I’ll add a bonus on top of the agreed compensation.”

Lee Chul-gyun, stroking his beard with one hand while narrowing his eyes as if calculating an estimate, let out a short whistle.

“I appreciate the straightforwardness.”
“Will you do it?”
“I’ll wrap it up within two weeks at most.”

Seok-won gave a slight nod and turned to leave.
He departed with Choi Ho-geun, who had been waiting behind him, as if their business was concluded.
Lee Chul-gyun listened to their footsteps fade into the distance while gazing at the bobber floating on the water, then rose and folded up his fishing rod.

“Not a single mandarin fish all night—the fish aren’t biting at all today.”

As Lee Chul-gyun stowed the folded fishing rod into his bag, he watched the BMW with its headlights blazing pull away with an engine rumble.

“They say the second son of Daeheung Group is no ordinary man, and it seems to be true.”

* * *

“Just write your name in this blank space and affix your seal.”

Seok-won, visiting Headquarters for the first time in a while, glanced over the stock transfer agreement handed to him by the group’s Counsel Lawyer, a former chief prosecutor, then wrote his name with the fountain pen on the desk.
He then retrieved his seal from his inner pocket, applied the ink pad, and stamped it above his name to complete the process.

“Thank you for your work.”

The Counsel Lawyer, confirming one last time that nothing was missing, carefully gathered the documents and placed them in an envelope.
Then Chief Secretary Gil Seong-ho, seated beside him, leaned forward slightly and asked.

“Is everything complete now?”
“Yes. We’ll file it along with the other documents today. If all goes well, all procedures should be finalized by the end of this week.”
“The Chairman wants this wrapped up by year’s end, so please expedite it.”
“Understood.”

The Counsel Lawyer adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses, picked up the envelope of documents, and stood.

“Then I’ll take my leave now.”
“Of course.”

Counsel Lawyer offered a light bow to Seok-won across the room before stepping out.
As the door closed, Chief Secretary Gil Seong-ho turned to Seok-won with a smile.

“With the shares held by Midopa Department Store and the stake Chairman Park possessed now transferred, Daheung Venture Capital has become entirely yours, Young Master. Congratulations.”

At the sincere congratulations, I allowed a faint smile to cross my lips.

“There are still shares held by individual investors remaining, so I haven’t achieved complete ownership yet.”

Chief Secretary Gil Seong-ho leaned forward slightly, as if the timing was perfect to broach the subject.

“Since you mention it, I wanted to ask—you’ve already secured a majority stake, so there’s no pressing need to acquire the remaining shares. Are you truly planning to proceed with a public tender offer?”

I nodded slightly and answered with measured composure.

“When other shareholders exist, investment becomes constrained in various ways.”

I continued with a light shrug.

“Even if it costs more, delisting the company is more advantageous for what I plan to do going forward. If that had been difficult, I wouldn’t have taken interest in Daheung Venture Capital in the first place.”
“Indeed, operating as a private company is far more convenient. Though funding is certainly a consideration.”

As one of Chairman Park Tae-hong’s closest associates, Chief Secretary Gil Seong-ho was among those who knew I possessed assets rivaling my father’s.
Thus, while he found it somewhat regrettable that we were delisting what had been listed, he didn’t dwell on the matter further.

“Fortunately, with the recent market downturn, the stock price has fallen considerably from its listing level. We should be able to acquire all individual shareholder stakes for around 7 billion won.”

When the composite stock index collapsed below 1,000 points, large-cap stocks like Sasung Electronics and Hyunwoo Automobiles experienced significant declines, but small and mid-cap stocks suffered even greater damage.
The smaller and less profitable companies saw steeper drops, with many stocks halving in value, leaving investors with worthless holdings.
Daheung Venture Capital followed the same pattern—not quite halved, but trading near the bottom at nearly 30% below its listing price.
As a result, I could save considerable taxes when receiving the Daheung Venture Capital shares that Chairman Park Tae-hong held as a gift.

“The current Daheung Venture Capital share price is around 1,980 won per share.”
“That’s correct.”

I picked up the teacup before me and took a sip of the adequately cooled coffee before continuing.

“When I conduct the public acquisition, I’m planning to purchase shares at 2,574 won per share, adding a 30% premium to the current stock price.”

Chief Secretary Gil Seong-ho’s eyes widened at this unexpected statement.

“You’re saying you’ll add that much extra money?”
“Individual shareholders won’t respond to the public acquisition unless there’s that level of profit incentive.”

It was true that a public acquisition wouldn’t necessarily attract all individual shareholders, so there needed to be bait to make them willing to sell their shares.

“I understand your point, but 30% seems excessive. Especially given the poor market conditions, there will be plenty of people willing to sell their shares if we’re simply buying them. I’d suggest 10 to 15% would be more appropriate.”
“Manager Gil makes a valid argument. However, I intend to stick with my original plan of adding a 30% premium.”

Even as Seok-won insisted on his position, Chief Secretary Gil Seong-ho’s expression showed confusion.

“May I ask the reason behind this decision?”

Seok-won then calmly explained his reasoning.

“When Daheung Venture Capital was listed on the stock market, the share price was 2,500 won.”
“That’s correct.”
“If we delist the company just a few years after going public and purchase shares at a price lower than the listing price, what do you think people will say?”
“….”

To the silent Chief Secretary Gil Seong-ho, Seok-won spoke with utmost seriousness.

“Naturally, there will be plenty of negative talk, and people will point fingers, claiming that the Daeheung Group and my father intentionally listed a loss-making company to defraud investors of their money.”
“Hmm.”

Chief Secretary Gil Seong-ho let out a low murmur in reluctant acknowledgment.

“The atmosphere would certainly be unfavorable.”
“I can’t let my father and the group be pointed at because of me. Especially with the political situation already unstable due to the former president’s slush fund scandal. There’s no need to give people unnecessary ammunition to criticize us.”

As Seok-won pointed out an aspect Chief Secretary Gil Seong-ho hadn’t considered, the secretary felt a moment of regret.
Meanwhile, Seok-won smiled with a subtle smirk and spoke boldly.

“Besides, if money weren’t an issue—and frankly, we can easily afford that amount—I can’t resort to petty tricks just to save a pittance and end up facing criticism.”
“So you decided on a purchase price higher than the listing price?”
“Yes, that’s right.”

Gil Seong-ho, the Chief Secretary, marveled inwardly at depths of thought he hadn’t realized were being contemplated.
Now he understood why Chairman Park Tae-hong cherished his second son so dearly.

“I didn’t realize you were considering that far ahead. My thinking was too shallow.”

Seok-won simply offered a faint smile without further comment.

“Then I’ll prepare to proceed with the public acquisition by adding a 30% premium as you’ve suggested.”
“Please do.”

While I had Chairman Park Tae-hong in mind, I also harbored a genuine reluctance to harm individual investors from the outset.

‘Both now and in the future, the domestic stock market has become a den of speculation because major shareholders and corporate owners treat individual investors like fools to be fleeced and ignored.’

Through legitimate investment, I could generate far greater and more substantial profits—there was no need to resort to the contemptible practice of extracting wealth from ordinary investors and earning their resentment.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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