New Employees With an Annual Salary of 1 Trillion Won - Chapter 137

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 137. Cracks (1)

All acquisitions had been completed.

Daehyeon Construction, the baseball team, and the 150,000 pyeong site of Daehyeon Electronics Complex had all become property of Tiger Fund Korea Branch.

“Now that all acquisitions are finished, let me ask one thing. Is there a specific reason for acquiring Daehyeon Construction?”

“The situation was too good. It was such a good deal that we would have regretted not acquiring it now.”

Only after the acquisitions were complete did the General Manager come to see me.

Until then, he had trusted me completely and hadn’t asked a single question, and only now was he asking about the acquisition reasons.

“With so much debt, is it really a good deal?”

“There are three main reasons for acquiring Daehyeon Construction. One is the rise in real estate prices. Real estate prices in the United States are also gradually rising. Korean real estate is also expected to rise.”

“Isn’t the US real estate rise thanks to the derivative products the Branch Manager created? And there’s also the reason that people fearing the stock market due to terrorism are flocking to the real estate market.”

The situations in the US and Korea were indeed different.

However, looking at the big picture, the structure was similar, and regardless of different reasons, real estate appreciation was predetermined.

“Since Korea has overcome the IMF crisis, interest in the real estate market will heat up again. When that happens, various construction requests including apartment construction will pour in.”

“You’re saying the construction industry will boom. Even so, isn’t that insufficient reason to acquire Daehyeon Construction?”

A construction boom alone was indeed insufficient.

No matter how much the construction industry boomed, it wouldn’t be enough to cover Daehyeon Construction’s debt.

“There’s another reason. Through Daehyeon Construction, we can monopolize Korea’s SOC projects. These are projects that can invest trillions of won and will bring very high returns in the long term.”

“Macquarie Group is indeed generating high profits through SOC.”

“It’s a stable structure that produces steady profits for over 20 years. And to monopolize SOC projects in Korea, we need a construction company of Daehyeon Construction’s scale.”

Monopolizing SOC wasn’t an easy task.

They’re bound to be wary of foreign capital.

However, by putting Daehyeon Construction at the forefront, we could lower their guard, which was also why we acquired Daehyeon Construction.

“There’s one last reason remaining. I’d like to hear what that reason is.”

“Although Daehyeon Group has now fallen, other Daehyun Family groups still remain. There are many places like Daehyeon Automotive Group or heavy industries that want to inherit Daehyeon Group’s legitimacy.”

“You’re saying they’ll try to buy back Daehyeon Construction.”

“We just need to hold onto it until they have sufficient capital. Then we can sell it with a premium.”

A deal that secures stable profits while also being resellable.

If you peeled away the dirty wrapping paper of enormous debt, there was a pretty decent product inside.

People turned away looking at the dirty wrapping paper, but I examined the product itself, not the packaging.

Of course, this was only possible because of Tiger Fund’s financial power.

Without sufficient capital, we wouldn’t even be able to peel away the wrapping paper.

“Hearing the explanation, it’s not bad. If it’s an investment with an exit strategy secured, there’s no reason not to invest.”

“I’ll operate it so we absolutely don’t lose money.”

“I understand acquiring the complex site since Nexcon and Daehyeon Semiconductor need to expand their scale. But is there a reason for acquiring the professional baseball team?”

There was also a separate reason for acquiring the baseball team.

When I was about to give my prepared answer.

The General Manager waved his hand and stopped me from speaking.

“You don’t need to explain the reason. I’ve been wanting to operate a baseball team anyway.”

“Do you like baseball that much?”

“Baseball is the sport that perfectly matches capitalism. And operating a baseball team wouldn’t be bad for Tiger Fund Korea Branch’s image either.”

The General Manager was already smiling as he looked at information about Daehyeon Baseball Team.

He was checking everything from team performance to individual player statistics using various indicators.

“Baseball is the sport where data is most important. Numbers directly indicate performance. It would be the sport that best matches the Branch Manager’s tendencies.”

“I don’t have that much interest yet. I simply want to use the professional baseball team acquisition as a tool to improve Tiger Fund’s image and bind the acquired companies together.”

Many companies that moved from Daehyeon Group to Tiger Fund.

Daehyeon Semiconductor, delivery, Nexcon, construction, and more.

I planned to use the professional baseball team as a symbolic tool to integrate them, and only then could those companies stably settle into Tiger Fund.

“That’s also a good strategy. But even without such justification, acquiring a baseball team seems like a good idea. Honestly, I’d like to acquire a US professional team, but that’s too expensive, so I’ll have to be satisfied with a Korean baseball team.”

“I heard US baseball teams are very expensive.”

“You could say they’re symbols of wealth. Even an average MLB team is worth $300 million. And the annual operating costs alone exceed $100 million.”

“Is there any profit from operating them like that?”

“In Korea, most professional clubs operate at a loss, but the US market size is different, so quite many clubs are profitable. In MLB alone, over 20 clubs are operating profitably.”

The situation was certainly very different from Korea.

However, Korean professional baseball teams aren’t forever unable to operate profitably.

If we break away from the current outdated structure and improve the profit structure, Korean baseball teams seemed capable of profitable management.

“We’ll also try to create a system that enables profitable management.”

“Right now it’s a structure where you can barely break even only if performance is good. It would be meaningful to have a structure that can be profitable even with poor performance.”

“We can find answers by studying the data more.”

“That’s right. Baseball can ultimately be seen as statistics based on data. Try operating the club that way too.”

Of course, I wasn’t planning to proceed with structural reforms right away.

There were still several businesses more urgent than the baseball team.

“I’ll check on club operations from time to time. But right now we need to focus on SOC projects.”

“Since the government sent positive signals, local politicians will come running now. They’ll all clamor for investment in their regions first.”

“That’s what worries me. We must distribute regions well so all parties can be satisfied.”

“Getting involved with politics becomes very tiresome. Especially, not making unnecessary enemies is much more important than making allies.”

To operate a business in Korea, you can’t antagonize any one side.

You must follow the ruling party’s wishes while not neglecting relationships with the opposition, so you won’t suffer losses even when the government changes.

“That’s why I want to establish clear rules and principles. Then politicians would accept it, wouldn’t they?”

“If we firmly state that private investment will proceed according to principles, complaints will decrease. Of course, we’ll need to maintain some balance between ruling and opposition parties.”

If we step forward to balance things ourselves, complaints will inevitably arise.

Why should we take on such troublesome work?

We should let politicians fight among themselves to find answers, so the sparks don’t fly our way.

“So I’m thinking of creating a private investment committee. We’ll appoint major politicians from both parties as committee members and have them distribute regions themselves.”

“That way things will sort themselves out. But they might demand unprofitable projects for votes.”

“That’s why we’ll establish principles. Only projects exceeding a certain profitability standard will be investment targets. Politicians will decide priorities within that framework.”

It was a structure where we created the options.

If politicians made final decisions from options we’d already prepared, we could prevent investment in places with poor profitability.

“Certainly, if Tiger Fund leads such a committee, it would become a powerful political tool.”

“This is also a legal lobbying method. It can make Tiger Fund Korea Branch’s connections even more solid.”

Politicians’ greatest concern was ultimately getting elected.

To win votes, they needed regional development and private investment, which directly connected to election success.

Therefore, we could tame politicians through private project investment while simultaneously using it as a means to protect Tiger Fund.

“Let’s send official letters to all parties in Tiger Fund’s name. Then the parties will send politicians on their own. We just need to set the place and time.”

“I’ll proceed that way.”

“Oh! And General Manager Song said he’s coming to Korea next week. He seemed to have a lot to discuss with the Branch Manager, so please make time.”

I also had a lot to discuss with General Manager Song anyway.

There were many projects to coordinate with various companies the Asia Branch had invested in.

***

The Tiger Fund Private Project Investment Committee was held for the first time.

Ten committee members were assigned according to each party’s seat ratio, and major politicians from both ruling and opposition parties were appointed as members.

“It’s an honor to host those who work hard for the country. I’m Lee Jung-hoo, in charge of Tiger Fund Korea Branch.”

“We’ve heard about Branch Manager Lee several times at the Blue House. You’re in charge of all Tiger Fund business in Korea?”

A ruling party congressman spoke first.

As a four-term veteran, he seemed to effectively take the representative role of the committee.

The opposition also sent a three-term congressman as a committee member, meaning they viewed this committee as significant.

“Tiger Fund is conducting various projects with the goal of mutual development with Korea. SOC projects are also part of that initiative.”

“Who wouldn’t know Tiger Fund’s sincerity? We all know it well.”

When the ruling party congressman tried to lead the meeting.

An opposition congressman raised his voice in response.

“Before discussing private investment projects, we must address regional issues first. Expanding the Southern Metropolitan Expressway is urgent. Without private investment, it will be delayed for years.”

“Your intentions are transparent. Isn’t that area a vote bank for the ruling party? If we’re thinking about regional coexistence, expanding the Yeongnam Port is more urgent. For economic development too, ports take priority over highways.”

A heated exchange erupted in an instant.

The familiar sight from the National Assembly was reproduced in the committee, and an unyielding war of words continued.

“Ports are merely a long-term project. We must first proceed with the highway project to show the people the results of private investment.”

“We must think of the national economy! If the economy revives, there’s no need for separate publicity!”

As shouting began to fly back and forth, other committee members also jumped in, pushing their own regional projects.

It was an interesting spectacle, but not entertaining enough to waste time on, so I stood up from my seat and organized the situation.

“Before we discuss further, let me inform you of Tiger Fund’s principles.”

“Principles?”

“It’s quite simple. Only projects that meet profitability standards become investment targets. And the priorities within that will be left to the committee’s consensus.”

The meeting hall fell quiet when the word profitability was mentioned.

Several committee members quietly put away the materials they had brought. They were projects aimed solely at votes with no profitability whatsoever.

“Are you saying that without committee consensus, no projects will be selected?”

“That’s correct. We need consensus from more than half. And Tiger Fund has the capacity to proceed with 3-4 projects simultaneously. So please keep all possibilities open during your discussions.”

In simple terms, it meant they should divide things up among themselves.

If only one project were to be selected, they would naturally have to fight tooth and nail to ensure a project favorable to them was chosen.

But if multiple projects could proceed simultaneously, with just a little coordination, they could all benefit mutually.

“Ahem, let’s start by selecting the most urgent projects one by one.”

“Good. If we proceed with highways and ports simultaneously, it would be of great help to national development.”

“An excellent proposal indeed.”

Are these really politicians?

Just moments ago they were ready to tear each other apart.

But as soon as their interests aligned, they immediately smiled and shook hands.

There was nothing for me to lose.

At least within the committee, they wouldn’t fight each other, and both ruling and opposition parties would protect Tiger Fund for creating this neutral zone.

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