Golden Spoon Investment Portfolio - Chapter 516

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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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516. Those guys again!

Charlie Scally, the team leader of Alcon Korea, a subsidiary asset management company of Goldman Sachs, knocked and entered the room.
Inside, Tom Wilson, the blonde-haired representative, sat leisurely at his desk, speaking with someone on the phone.

“Haha. Of course. Everything is proceeding smoothly, so there’s nothing to worry about.”

Still holding the receiver, he tilted his head slightly upward, gesturing with one hand toward the sofa in the middle of the room as he looked at Scally.
Wilson watched from the corner of his eye as Scally settled onto the left sofa, then wrapped up the call.

“Understood. I’ll call you again then.”

Setting down the receiver and rising to his feet, Wilson came around the desk and sat in the center of the sofa, muttering irritably.

“They’d manage fine on their own, but they just have to peck away at us every chance they get.”

He crossed one leg and narrowed his brows as he observed Scally’s rigid expression.

“You don’t look well. Is something wrong?”

Scally hesitated for a moment after receiving his gaze, then carefully opened his mouth while studying Wilson’s face.

“The Yeouido Daekwang Securities building we had our eye on has apparently been sold.”

Before Scally could finish, Wilson’s face hardened instantly.

“What? There wasn’t a word about this yesterday!”

Scally replied with an uncomfortable expression at Wilson’s harsh tone.

“We knew purchase proposals had been made to various parties, but we never anticipated the contract would be finalized this quickly.”
“Is that supposed to be an excuse?”

Wilson, thoroughly enraged, slammed his palm hard against the sofa’s armrest and let out a sharp shout, causing Scally to flinch. His failure to anticipate Daekwang Group’s movements beforehand was a clear mistake with no room for excuses.
Looking at Scally with contemptuous eyes as he hung his head like a guilty man, Wilson asked.
Wilson Director looked down at Scalley, who was bowing his head like a criminal, with a pitying gaze and asked.

“Who the hell snatched our property?”

Strictly speaking, it was a property we had our eye on, not something that belonged to Alcon Korea.
But pointing out such facts would only fan the flames of anger, so Charlie Scally answered while nervously gauging the mood.

“…Blue Hole Construction.”

Tom Wilson’s representative raised his eyebrows and asked back.

“You mean the Blue Hole Construction I know about!”
“Yes, sir.”

Tom Wilson’s face contorted as he shouted in an exasperated voice.

“Those bastards again!”

His anger boiled over even more because this wasn’t the first time—he’d already lost several properties he’d targeted to Blue Hole Construction.

“Bad enough they took Geopyeong Mart, but then the Gangnam Nonno Building, and now the Daekwang Securities headquarters at Yeouido! These guys must be deliberately sabotaging us!”

Geopyeong Mart, which encompassed Yeouido Station on Line 5 of the subway, was a commercial facility spanning 5,776 pyeong of land with 3,349 pyeong of floor space—one basement level and five above-ground stories.
The first floor housed renowned international franchise shops, and with virtually no vacant storefronts, it was a premium property generating a steady monthly rent of approximately 100 million won.
The Nonno Building, located at the Gangnam Bangbang intersection, had been completed in 1978 and was aged, but it was such an iconic Gangnam landmark that few Seoulites didn’t know of it.
Both buildings were prime real estate in the heart of the city, and they shared the common trait of being listed at prices far below their actual value due to the difficult economic situation.
As the IMF crisis flooded the market with properties at rock-bottom prices, foreign investment firms were on a real estate shopping spree—buying cheap, holding for a few years, then selling at inflated prices for profit.
Among them, Goldman Sachs had even established a separate subsidiary to aggressively acquire Korean real estate.
But losing prime properties with serious profit potential repeatedly to Blue Hole Construction was infuriating.
Seeing Tom Wilson’s outburst, Charlie Scally spoke while breaking into a cold sweat.

“Looking at how they acquired the Daekwang Securities headquarters along with the Daekwang Group headquarters in front of Seoul Station and the Busan Suyeong Bay Reclaimed Land all at once, it doesn’t seem like they’re deliberately trying to sabotage us.”
“So you’re telling me this is all coincidence?”

Tom Wilson responded irritably, veins bulging on his forehead.

“Since the previous two properties and the Daekwang Securities headquarters are all prime real estate that anyone would covet, it’s natural that our interests would overlap.”
“But why is it that every single time we try to acquire something, they snatch it right out from under us!”

Charlie Scally lowered his head even further at the irritation dripping from Tom Wilson’s voice.
The words rose to his throat—that if the property caught our eye, it would catch others’ as well—but he swallowed them down hard, knowing he’d only earn a torrent of curses for speaking them.
Tom Wilson, spewing a continuous stream of crude profanities, gnashed his teeth as he shouted.

“Damn it! If it were anyone else, I’d make sure they never dared covet a property we’d marked again. But since the backing is Chairman Park Seok-won, I can’t even do that. This is absolutely maddening!”

Tom Wilson knew full well that the owner of Blue Hole Construction was Seok-won, the Wall Street titan with the nickname “the Midas Touch.”
While Goldman Sachs was one of Wall Street’s premier investment banks, Seok-won and the Eldorado Fund—who had surpassed even George Hamilton, the hedge fund legend who had brought the Bank of England to its knees—were opponents that even Goldman Sachs hesitated to confront directly.
Much less could Tom Wilson, merely a subsidiary representative, dare to show his teeth and pick a fight with Seok-won when even the parent company Goldman Sachs itself would think twice.
Because Tom Wilson understood this reality all too well, even as rage boiled up inside him, he could only grit his teeth and seethe.
Watching Tom Wilson’s face flush red and purple, Charlie Scally fidgeted nervously, terrified that some of the fallout would land on him.
After a long while, Tom Wilson finally managed to calm himself and took one long, deep breath.

“Phew….”

Once he’d regained some composure, what faced him was the task of salvaging a plan that had been utterly mangled.

“Just moments ago, I confidently said we’d be able to acquire the Daekwang Securities building in Yeouido. I have no idea what to tell headquarters.”
“I apologize.”

Charlie Scally bowed his head, his face a picture of shame.

“Tsk.”

Tom Wilson clicked his tongue disapprovingly at the sight, then fell silent for a moment before asking again.

“They’re not going to snatch away the Seoul Finance Center building in Mugyo-dong as well, are they?”
“I will make absolutely certain we don’t lose that one.”

Charlie Scally pledged, but Tom Wilson’s voice was ice-cold.

“If something like this happens again, you’ll have to step down and return to the United States. You’d better keep your wits about you.”
“I will keep that in mind.”

Charlie Scally answered, swallowing hard.
But Tom Wilson, apparently still unconvinced, spoke with a face that had turned glacial.

“Raise the internal acquisition ceiling we’ve set by another 10% so that those Blue Hole Construction bastards can’t get involved.”
“Pardon? But that would significantly reduce our profitability.”

I opened my eyes wide in surprise, and Tom Wilson shouted irritably, his brow furrowed.

“Who doesn’t know that! If we don’t do this, we’ll lose all the prime properties to those Blue Hole Construction bastards!”
“Ah. I understand.”

Charlie Scally flinched, having brought the rebuke upon himself, and bowed his head again.

“Damn it. I thought we’d easily make gains as Korean real estate prices plummeted when the foreign exchange crisis destroyed the economy, but what is this mess?”

Tom Wilson vented his frustration, his expression darkening.
Not only Alcon Korea, but numerous foreign investors who had purchased buildings and real estate at bargain prices—properties that Korean companies had reluctantly put on the market at rock-bottom prices to raise cash—now faced unexpected difficulties because of me, their plans to resell at premium prices once the domestic economy recovered now in jeopardy.

* * *

“Is there anything you find uncomfortable?”

My ears suddenly itched, and as I slightly frowned, Yun Ki-hun, who was sitting on the sofa to my right, asked.

“It’s nothing. My ears are itching—someone must be talking about me.”

I laughed it off lightly and, seated in the place of honor in the center, looked toward Eom Tae-jun, the Financial Director, on my left.

“Let’s continue where we left off.”
“Yes.”

Eom Tae-jun, the Financial Director, answered with a bright expression and cleared his throat softly before continuing.

“As I mentioned, we’ve passed the review successfully, and Seum Technology is scheduled to list on KOSDAQ next month.”
“That’s good news. Let’s provide maximum support for whatever is needed to ensure the IPO proceeds smoothly.”

Yun Ki-hun then responded reassuringly.

“I’m personally communicating with the Seum Technology management and overseeing everything.”

Yun Ki-hun smiled, his expression brimming with anticipation.

“The demand forecast results released two days ago were excellent, so expectations for stock price appreciation following the listing are high.”
“Haha! If the results are even half as good as the massive success we had with Goldbank, I couldn’t ask for more.”

Seok-won smiled faintly at Eom Tae-jun’s words.

“They’ve demonstrated exceptional technical prowess—creating communication software that enabled fax transmission via PC without a dedicated fax machine long ago—and now they’re offering free internet telephony that perfectly aligns with current trends. Investors will definitely be interested.”
“Absolutely. At first, I couldn’t understand why you invested in such a small, seemingly unremarkable company. But lately, I’ve come to realize just how remarkable your foresight has been.”

As Yun Ki-hun expressed his genuine admiration, Eom Tae-jun nodded in agreement and added his own thoughts.

“I feel the same way. Your early investment in Goldbank was impressive enough, but what truly astounds me is how you recognized the stock was overheated, divested without hesitation, and emerged completely unscathed from the subsequent collapse.”

Both men gazed at Seok-won with eyes full of respect.
Goldbank’s stock, which had peaked at 27,450 won per share before plummeting following the announcement of the cyber securities firm’s indefinite postponement, had attempted several rebounds but ultimately collapsed, eventually breaking through the 10,000 won per share mark.
As Goldbank tumbled like a waterfall, Seok-won’s interview from the Hansung Daily and his decision to liquidate more than half his holdings before the crash became major talking points.

“From the sale of our Goldbank holdings, we’ve realized 434 billion won in profits beyond our initial investment. Though there’s still considerable time remaining in the quarter, it’s now certain we’ll exceed our 3/4 quarterly targets.”

Eom Tae-jun spoke with barely contained delight.
The reason Eom Tae-jun’s face had been wreathed in smiles lately was precisely because of the over 400 billion won in cash that had flowed into the corporate account.

“And here’s the approval document for the bonuses we discussed previously for the Fund Management Department staff.”

As Eom Tae-jun placed the approval stamp on the desk, Seok-won reviewed the contents and signed without hesitation.

“I forgot to mention this earlier, but let’s extend the 200% special bonus to all employees, not just the Fund Management Department.”
“You’re saying to give it to everyone?”
“Yes. While the Fund Management Department certainly worked hard on the share liquidation, the results we’ve achieved come from successful venture investments. All our employees should share in this joy together.”
“Now that you mention it, that makes sense.”

Yun Ki-hun nodded in agreement.
While distributing bonuses to all employees would be a substantial expense, the profits from the Goldbank investment made it entirely manageable, so Eom Tae-jun raised no objections.
In fact, since the company-wide bonus included him, he was secretly delighted.

“The employees will be thrilled when they hear this news.”
“When employees receive compensation commensurate with their achievements, they’ll work even harder.”
“That’s absolutely true.”

Both Yun Ki-hun and Eom Tae-jun smiled in agreement.

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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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