New Employees With an Annual Salary of 1 Trillion Won - Chapter 162

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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 162. Spider Web (2)

Indeed, Myeongdong’s reputation was no lie.

Through Redline, we could check computerized information in real-time.

From major information like politicians’ corruption and businessmen’s embezzlement to trivial information like romantic relationships and hobbies, everything was there.

Song Sang-yeon, who was checking the materials with me, was also speechless.

As the dark underbelly of Korean society was laid bare, he couldn’t hide his bitter expression.

“Branch Manager, now I understand why Myeongdong has survived in the back alleys for so long. With this kind of information in their hands, no politician would dare to mess with them carelessly.”

“Now we also hold their weaknesses. It would be fortunate if we never have to use it, but if we’re attacked, we have cards to strike back several times harder.”

“Just releasing a few pieces of information here would turn Korea upside down.”

We had to return what we received.

Since Myeongdong opened their information first, we also had to throw them some profitable information they wanted.

“Have you finished organizing the information to hand over to Myeongdong?”

“I’ve selected several pieces of information that only Tiger Fund Headquarters knows. I’ve included reports on future gold and bond price changes as well as information about US company acquisitions.”

I checked the materials Song Sang-yeon had organized.

These were information that Tiger Fund Headquarters had secretly acquired through various channels.

They were major information that not only the media but also Korean financial companies would find difficult to obtain.

And among that information, there was one piece that caught my eye.

It was news about the acquisition of a company that had very close ties with Tiger Fund.

“It looks like PayPal will finally be sold to eBay.”

“The negotiations have entered the final stage. Now they just need to sign the contract, and PayPal will be transferred to eBay.”

Tiger Fund held equity shares in PayPal.

That’s why we had been hearing about the acquisition news for some time, and we were inevitably deeply involved since PayPal was using several patents from Nexpin and Rollbook.

“eBay might want the PayPal equity shares we hold.”

“Actually, they’ve contacted us several times through headquarters. They could acquire PayPal’s management rights without our equity shares, but they seemed to want to buy our shares if possible.”

PayPal and Rollbook had conducted an equity swap.

So if PayPal was transferred to eBay, some of Rollbook’s equity shares would also be transferred to eBay.

“We need to give up PayPal’s equity shares and get back Rollbook’s equity shares.”

“I’ll contact headquarters to proceed with the equity swap.”

“No. This is something I need to go and handle personally.”

“Is it necessary for you to go personally, Branch Manager? Organizing equity shares before the acquisition is something headquarters can handle sufficiently.”

If it were just for an equity swap, naturally there would be no need for me to go.

But PayPal wasn’t just a simple company – it was a company that served as one pillar of the structure I had designed.

More precisely, it wasn’t PayPal itself but PayPal’s core personnel who were one pillar of the structure.

So before PayPal disappeared, I needed to strengthen our relationship with them.

“I’ll go personally to meet them, partly to hold a consolation party for the acquisition.”

“Wouldn’t it be a celebration party rather than a consolation party? I’m hearing that eBay is acquiring PayPal for 2 billion dollars. There haven’t been many cases of acquisitions at such high amounts since the IT bubble burst.”

PayPal had continued to grow even after the IT bubble burst.

This was thanks to its relationship with Rollbook. Of course, it would have grown without Rollbook, but it was able to achieve greater growth thanks to Rollbook and Tiger Fund.

“It’s certainly selling for more than expected.”

“Thanks to Rollbook and Tiger Fund, they’re getting 2 billion dollars. If PayPal had been alone, they would have received at most 1.5 billion dollars. Since they’re getting 500 million dollars more thanks to us, shouldn’t PayPal buy the celebration drinks?”

“If it’s celebration drinks, then yes, but I should buy the consolation drinks.”

Song Sang-yeon didn’t understand what I meant.

His expression asked why we needed to console them when they made 2 billion dollars.

“I don’t understand what needs consoling.”

“They’re handing over PayPal, which they gave birth to and raised like a child, so how empty their hearts must feel? That’s why we need to drink consolation drinks.”

“Ah! I could think of it that way. I was only thinking about money and missed the emotional aspect.”

The time when people’s hearts waver most is after separation.

The core personnel who would be parting ways with PayPal.

Now was the best time to recruit them, so I had to go to the United States immediately.

***

A full 11 hours.

The time spent on the airplane alone was 11 hours.

Adding the time traveling to and from airports, I used over 15 hours just for transportation.

This is why I hated long-distance business trips.

Because it completely ruins my daily routine.

Nevertheless, this US business trip was absolutely necessary, so I forced myself to gather strength and traveled to PayPal.

“Oh! Mister Lee! How long has it been? Everyone has been waiting after hearing that Mister Lee was coming here personally.”

“Thank you for welcoming me like this. Have you all been well?”

PayPal’s atmosphere seemed like a few screws were loose.

Perhaps because the acquisition was in progress, everyone seemed unmotivated and greeted me with deflated expressions.

“Let’s save the greetings for later and talk business first. Please come inside for a moment.”

Carter Till, PayPal’s CEO, guided me to his private office.

Then he immediately brought up the equity-related matter.

“I received advance notice that you wanted to organize the equity shares.”

“Shouldn’t the equity shares find their proper place before PayPal is sold?”

“I agree with that. But the equity share prices have changed a lot from before.”

The situation had reversed.

When we first exchanged equity shares at COMDEX, PayPal’s equity shares were about 10 times higher.

But now Rollbook had not only caught up to PayPal’s value but had become about 3 times more valuable.

“The values have changed from before, but the contract terms remain the same.”

“I never expected the situation to turn out like this. Back then I thought it was a losing exchange, but it was actually the opposite.”

During the equity swap, we had specified various clauses.

There was even a clause to make up the difference in cash based on the equity values after 5 years.

“Rollbook was able to grow rapidly thanks to PayPal.”

“That’s what I want to say. PayPal users increased rapidly thanks to Rollbook.”

“I’m glad we were mutually helpful. Then can we proceed with the equity swap as agreed?”

“I’d like to do that too, but the situation has become a bit complicated.”

CEO Carter Till made a troubled expression.

Apparently, Rollbook’s equity shares were significantly involved in PayPal’s acquisition negotiations.

“Would the acquisition become difficult if Rollbook’s equity shares are removed?”

“Rather than difficult, the corporate value would drop significantly. eBay has offered 2 billion dollars now, but if Rollbook’s equity shares are removed, the price could drop to around 1.5 billion dollars.”

“The equity shares’ value couldn’t possibly account for 500 million dollars, so you’re saying the corporate value drops due to severing the relationship with Rollbook?”

The value of Rollbook’s equity shares wasn’t actually that large.

Because the amount of equity shares we exchanged wasn’t much.

But through the equity swap, PayPal and Rollbook were able to maintain a partnership.

If we exchanged the equity shares back, it would mean the end of the partnership.

“If the partnership with Rollbook disappears, we can’t help but worry about decreased revenue.”

“How far have the negotiations with eBay progressed? Did they directly raise that issue?”

“The negotiations haven’t begun in earnest yet. We’ve confirmed the intention to sell and roughly set the price.”

CEO Carter Till was struggling in deep contemplation.

I threw him a lifeline that could solve his worries in one go.

“If negotiations with eBay haven’t begun in earnest, there is a better method.”

“Is there such a method?”

“If Tiger Fund acquires PayPal, all problems would be solved cleanly. And the contract also specifies that Tiger Fund has priority negotiation rights.”

How clean would that be?

If both Rollbook and PayPal became subsidiaries of Tiger Fund, there would be no reason to worry about equity shares.

“I didn’t know Tiger Fund was also interested in acquiring PayPal.”

“We have absolutely no plan to acquire by force. However, if PayPal is on the market, there’s no reason not to buy it.”

I didn’t want to let PayPal be taken by others.

Until now, since we remained partners, I hadn’t expressed acquisition intentions.

PayPal, which established an internet payment system, was a company that would greatly benefit not only Rollbook but also Tiger Fund.

“Are you perhaps planning a resale after the acquisition?”

“That will absolutely never happen. Rather, we plan to grow PayPal even larger than it is now. To completely dominate the internet payment market.”

“Then I will sell PayPal to Tiger Fund.”

“Isn’t that too hasty? You haven’t even mentioned the price yet.”

CEO Carter Till wanted to quickly remove the heavy burden from his shoulders.

Realizing his mistake, he regained his composure and proceeded with the negotiation step by step.

“What are your thoughts on the price?”

“You said eBay offered 2 billion dollars, right? Tiger Fund will acquire PayPal for 2.2 billion dollars, higher than that.”

“Thank you. With a higher price, eBay will also accept and withdraw.”

CEO Carter Till smiled brightly.

On the surface, it looked like just a 200 million dollar difference between 2 billion and 2.2 billion.

But when considering all the equity shares and rights involved in the cross-exchange, the actual transaction value was much larger.

“However, there is one condition.”

“What condition? Just tell me. I’ll accommodate it as much as possible.”

“I hope you’ll work with Tiger Fund on your next business venture.”

“…Are you saying to partner with Tiger Fund? Or are you saying to start a business partnering with Mister Lee?”

To me, they were words with the same meaning.

But since CEO Carter Till didn’t seem to think so, I gave him the answer he wanted.

“I mean working together with me, who belongs to Tiger Fund.”

“Then I’ll gladly accept. Actually, I was also considering starting a hedge fund that mainly deals with derivatives. If I could work with Mister Lee, wouldn’t it be guaranteed success?”

It was an unexpected answer.

Who would have thought CEO Carter Till was interested in hedge funds.

“Would that be alright? In the case of hedge funds dealing with derivatives, even small variables can cause major losses.”

“I am indeed concerned about that aspect. Having directly witnessed how the market shook due to this recent terrorist attack, I do feel some reluctance.”

“If you can’t grasp all variables in real-time, operating a derivatives-specialized hedge fund is difficult.”

CEO Carter Till nodded vigorously.

Then he carefully brought out a new business idea he had been hiding in his mind.

“That’s why I was planning not just a hedge fund but also another business. To grasp all variables, you need to collect, manage, and analyze information to turn it into actually useful information. Such systems and technology haven’t been created yet.”

“You’re thinking similarly to me. I’m also interested in systems that create useful information, and I’ve already built several systems.”

CEO Carter Till was a similar type of person to me.

He was especially specialized in macroscopic planning, and having such a person beside me could lighten my burden.

Therefore, I showed him the system I had created for Redline without hiding anything.

“Is this the information system Mister Lee created?”

“It’s not simply a tool that collects various data. Not only does it automatically collect diverse information, but if even minute correlations are discovered, it connects them to create new meaning. And I’ve already completed an algorithm that can even predict situations.”

CEO Carter Till looked at the system with the expression of someone who had fallen in love.

Since most of the system was in Korean, he even took out a dictionary and personally demonstrated all the system’s functions.

“This is exactly the kind of system I wanted! A system that combines fragmented information like puzzle pieces to create a finished product!”

“There are still many lacking aspects. It’s just a prototype insufficient for accurately grasping future movements.”

“Could I possibly proceed with business using this system? I’m already starting to envision how it should be improved and who should be recruited for the system’s development!”

CEO Carter Till had already finished planning the business.

But this system wasn’t just for him.

“A small security company in Korea is already using this system.”

“That doesn’t matter. That company is probably owned by Mister Lee anyway, isn’t it? We could just form a cooperative relationship with that company, couldn’t we?”

“On the surface, it’s a company with little relation to me, but I do hold substantial ownership.”

“Then that’s sufficient. If we develop this system, we can make customers from the CIA to the FBI and various American agencies!”

It was an opportunity to leap beyond Redline’s limitations at once.

To collect information beyond Korea to include America, someone like Carter Till was absolutely necessary.

If he mobilized his connections to cooperate with various American agencies, I could secure much more high-quality information.

“Good. Let’s do business together with this system.”

“But what are your thoughts on equity shares? You’re not thinking of demanding excessive shares, are you?”

“For a company to succeed, multiple parties should divide the shares. Tiger Fund will only take 25% of the shares in exchange for part of the initial investment and providing the system.”

The most important thing in the information business was the network.

Depending on how many stakeholders there were, information could be collected through various routes.

So I couldn’t be greedy for shares, and offered 25% of the equity.

“I’d also like to invest half of the initial investment funds and secure 25% of the shares. Would that be alright?”

“A structure where we each take 25% and the remaining 50% of shares are divided among various investors would be sufficient. We can protect management rights and expand stakeholder relationships.”

I extended my hand toward him.

CEO Carter Till grasped my hand without hesitation.

The first step toward dominating worldwide information began like this.

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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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