Golden Spoon Investment Portfolio - Chapter 288

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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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288. A Loss of Two Billion Dollars!

Sumitomo Corporation Headquarters in Chuo Ward, Tokyo, Japan.
Ito Masanao, president of Sumitomo Corporation, entered the spacious conference room alongside Kubori, the finance director, and Hashimoto, the head of the non-ferrous metals division, as journalists crowded the space.

Whoosh, click! Click!

The three men ascended the podium, bombarded by the brilliant flashes of camera lights, and stood with rigid expressions before the long table prepared in advance.
Though this emergency press conference had been announced abruptly that morning, more than thirty journalists occupied their seats, and several broadcast television station ENG cameras were positioned directly ahead.
A public relations staff member standing beside the podium brought his mouth close to the microphone stand and spoke.

“We will now begin the emergency press conference with Ito Masanao, president of Sumitomo Corporation.”

With his expression stiffened, President Ito stepped forward one pace, leaving the other two men behind him.
As President Ito observed the multiple microphones bearing broadcasting station logos installed atop the table draped with a white tablecloth, his gaze grew heavy and somber.
Lifting his head to face forward, he saw the journalists waiting with voice recorders and notepads in hand for him to speak.
After a brief silence, President Ito cleared his throat quietly and forced his reluctant lips apart to speak.

“The reason we have convened this press conference so suddenly today is to report an important matter to the public and our shareholders.”

President Ito continued speaking in a grave voice.

“We have confirmed that Sugihara Takashi, director of the non-ferrous metals division, has engaged in speculative trading in violation of company regulations in international commodity market transactions centered on the London Metal Market over the past ten years, concealing losses exceeding two billion dollars.”

In that instant, the journalists, who had been mechanically recording the statement, were startled by the staggering revelation and erupted in commotion.

“A loss of two billion dollars!”
“Then the loss amount is greater than the Daiwa Securities New York branch unauthorized bond trading incident that occurred last year.”
“Isn’t Sugihara, the director of the non-ferrous metals division, the famous Mr. 5%?”
“How could the company have been completely unaware of misconduct for ten years?”

The journalists, eyes gleaming as they exchanged remarks, straightened their previously relaxed postures and focused intently on President Ito’s statement.

“An internal investigation is currently underway, and we plan to obtain confessions of fraudulent trading from Sugihara and other related parties, implementing personnel measures including dismissal.”

Having concluded his prepared remarks, President Ito lifted his head with a troubled expression, gazing at the broadcast cameras and journalists before him as he spoke.

“As the representative of Sumitomo Corporation, I deeply apologize to the nation and our shareholders for failing to properly manage my employees’ conduct, which has resulted in this regrettable incident. I will make every effort to resolve this matter as quickly as possible and prevent further damage. Furthermore, I pledge that such an incident will never occur again.”

With that, Ito stood alongside Kubori, the executive director of finance, and Hashimoto, the general manager, bowing in unison at a perfect right angle in apology.
The shutter sounds erupted in a cacophony as camera flashes rained down ceaselessly upon the three figures standing on the podium.
Simultaneously, reporters surged forward, raising one arm each as they bombarded the stage with questions.

“How did you discover the unauthorized trading?”
“The loss is enormous—are you certain the non-ferrous metals manager acted alone?”
“Is the recent short-selling by foreign hedge funds connected to this incident?”
“Please provide specific details about what speculative trades were conducted!”

Before the onslaught of questions from the reporters, who descended like a ravenous pack of wolves, the three figures on the podium were nothing more than appetizing prey.
Ito felt the shame of being cast naked into the arena, his lower lip clenched firmly as he remained bowed.

* * *

Ahn Byung-seok, president of Digital Wave, held the prototype of the company’s first MP3 player—completed just days earlier—and spoke to Yoon Nam-ho, a manager and university junior, as he gazed at it.

“If we’re going to commercialize this, we’ll need to develop a separate data transfer chip, won’t we?”

Yoon Nam-ho, who had been examining an oscilloscope with another researcher, turned his chair around and replied while remaining seated.

“To transfer MP3 files from a computer to the player, we’d need to use a parallel port, but since it was originally designed for sending data to printers, it only supports one-way communication. However, an MP3 player requires bidirectional communication, so we have no choice but to develop a new chip.”
“That’s right.”

At this point in time, before USB connectors had become widespread, the parallel port was the only viable method for data transfer.
Ahn Byung-seok set the prototype down on the table and smacked his lips thoughtfully.

“That means we’ll need additional development funds.”
“If it’s just a matter of money, that would be fortunate. We also need more development personnel. As it stands, everyone can barely make it home once every two or three days, and adding more work here is simply impossible.”

Yoon Nam-ho responded with a serious expression.
In reality, Yoon Nam-ho and the rest of the development team were working around the clock—overtime and all-nighters were standard, and they were dedicating all seven days of the week to MP3 player development, barely managing to rest on weekends.
Of course, Ahn Byung-seok himself wasn’t simply issuing orders and relaxing; true to his engineering background, he kept a sleeping bag in his office and slept there as a matter of routine, personally leading the development efforts.
Precisely because of this, Ahn Byung-seok understood well that additional personnel were necessary, so he nodded in agreement.

“Try to recruit three or four more researchers who are skilled at chip design.”
“I’ve already called Professor Ju and asked him to recommend any capable developers he might know.”

Ahn Byung-seok gave a thumbs up, clearly impressed by how I anticipated his needs and acted without being told.

“Well done. You’re truly my right arm.”
“Stop talking and just give me a raise then.”

At my blunt retort, Ahn Byung-seok averted his gaze and quickly changed the subject.

“Right. I heard Chairman Park from Daehung Venture Capital is coming this afternoon. I wonder when he’ll arrive.”

Yoon Nam-ho, annoyed at how Ahn Byung-seok was dodging the salary question, was about to say something with a sideways glance.
Just then, the development lab door opened and Seok-won entered with Han Ji-sung, guided by a staff member.

“Oh! Welcome, sir.”

Ahn Byung-seok quickly rose from his chair and rushed forward.

“It’s been a while. Everyone seems to be working hard.”
“Thanks to your generous development funding, we’re able to focus comfortably on our work.”

Ahn Byung-seok rubbed his hands together eagerly as he spoke.

“Still, developing an entirely new product that no one has ever made before isn’t easy.”

Seok-won smiled warmly and praised Ahn Byung-seok and the entire development team for their hard work and dedication.
The development team members, including Yoon Nam-ho who had paused their work, stood and were deeply moved by his recognition of their efforts.
Watching the development team, Seok-won broke into a broad grin.

“You’re all working so hard, and there’s little else I can do to help, so I’ve brought some snacks.”

At Seok-won’s signal, Han Ji-sung set down the plastic bags he’d been carrying heavily in both hands onto the table.

“What’s that smell?”

Ahn Byung-seok’s nose twitched, and his face suddenly brightened.

“Is that fried chicken!”
“I brought plenty—thirty pieces so all the other staff outside can enjoy it too. I also brought some cold canned beer.”
“Oh my. You shouldn’t have. But thank you so much.”

The aroma of fried chicken quickly filled the development room, and the staff members licked their lips in anticipation.

“Let’s dig in!”

Seok-won smiled softly as he watched the development team members crowd around.

“Chicken tastes best while it’s hot, so please eat up.”
“Yes!”
“Thank you.”

The staff members, holding fried chicken and canned beer in both hands, had become the happiest people in the world.
Meanwhile, Seok-won and President Ahn Byung-seok moved to the President’s Office so the employees could eat comfortably, and they continued their conversation there.

“This is the prototype MP3 player we’ve developed.”

President Ahn Byung-seok, seated across from Seok-won, showed him the prototype as he spoke.
Seok-won picked up the prototype carefully, his face brimming with interest, and examined it.
The prototype, slightly smaller than a Walkman and fitting in the palm of one’s hand, had no LCD screen and possessed a rather crude appearance, as the focus had been on implementing functionality.

“The memory is 16 megabytes, and it can store and play up to 10 songs.”
“Does pressing this button start playback?”
“Yes, it does.”

Seok-won inserted the earbuds into his ears and pressed the play button.
A cheerful and lively song from a male dance duo that had debuted in spring and was sweeping the nation with explosive popularity flowed out.
President Ahn Byung-seok watched Seok-won’s expression as he listened with his eyes closed, his own face tense with anticipation.

“What do you think?”

Seok-won removed the earbuds from his ears and, like a student anxiously awaiting exam results, looked at President Ahn Byung-seok and Manager Yoon Nam-ho sitting beside him in turn, then broke into a broad grin.

“Excellent. To achieve such results in just a few months—I’m convinced that investing was the right decision.”

Only then did the two men, who had been anxiously worrying whether he might be displeased, exhale in relief.

“However, the sound quality during playback seems noticeably inferior compared to conventional cassette tapes, which is somewhat disappointing.”

Seok-won set the prototype down on the table and pointed out the issue.

“We’re aware of that and working hard to find improvements, but it’s not easy.”

Watching Ahn Byung-seok struggle with the problem, I recalled the contents of an MP3-related book I’d seen before my regression.

“I heard that a German company called Micron developed a DSP chip that broadcasts MP3 files via satellite. Why not try utilizing that?”
“Such a thing exists?”

Ahn Byung-seok’s eyes widened as he asked in return.

“If you’d like, I can procure a few samples for you.”
“If you could do that, I’d be truly grateful!”

Ahn Byung-seok leaned forward eagerly and nodded with enthusiasm.
At the sight of him—true to his engineer’s nature—itching to test it out quickly, I smiled slightly.

“I’ll have them shipped as quickly as possible.”
“Perhaps thanks to you, we might be able to resolve one of our major concerns.”

Ahn Byung-seok spoke with great joy.

“I hope so.”

I fidgeted with the prototype on the table, my eyes distant in thought.

“Developing an MP3 player is already a remarkable achievement, but there seem to be many aspects that still need improvement before it can become a product consumers will actually buy.”
“You’re right. We’ve only succeeded in playing MP3 files portably, but there’s still a long road ahead before full commercialization.”

Ahn Byung-seok answered honestly, holding nothing back.

“You’ve achieved this much in such a short time, so it won’t be easy, but I’m confident you’ll be able to address the shortcomings and eventually produce mass-market products.”
“Hearing you say that gives me strength.”
“I’ll help as much as I can too. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to reach out anytime.”

At that, Ahn Byung-seok bowed his head in genuine gratitude.

“I will.”

After conversing for some time longer, I left Digital Wave accompanied by Ahn Byung-seok and Manager Yoon Nam-ho to the door.
As I settled into the plush leather seat in the back and gazed out the window, I felt a vibration in my pocket and pulled out my phone to answer the call.

[Boss. Have you heard the news?]

At Landon Shore’s urgent tone, he furrowed his brow in confusion.

“What are you talking about?”
[Sumitomo Corporation just made an official announcement that their non-ferrous metals manager has been engaging in fraudulent transactions for nearly a decade, resulting in losses exceeding $2 billion!]

Realizing that Sugihara’s fraudulent activities had been exposed, exactly as anticipated, Seok-won’s eyes gleamed with intensity as he asked.

“What’s happened to Sumitomo Corporation’s stock price?”
[The moment the breaking news hit, it plummeted, dropping over 5%, and copper prices are collapsing across both spot and futures markets.]

As the thought that the moment had finally arrived to pluck the lusciously ripe fruit crossed his mind, Seok-won held the phone to his ear, a deep smile spreading across his lips.

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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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