New Employees With an Annual Salary of 1 Trillion Won - Chapter 77
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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 77. Frog Hunting (2)
Hanyang Dairy’s Stock Price hit the daily limit down for two consecutive days.
It plummeted without a single rebound, and today was no different.
“It fell 15% yesterday and another 15% today. But there’s been strangely no reaction at all.”
“This is a situation I didn’t expect either. I never thought they wouldn’t buy back even a single share of Treasury Stock.”
“It seems like they don’t care if the Stock Price falls.”
“If this were the United States, shareholders would have turned The Company upside down, but in Korea they don’t seem to care at all.”
Our plan had gone slightly awry.
Hanyang Dairy wasn’t showing even the slightest sense of crisis about the Stock Price decline.
“No matter how much the Stock Price falls, it doesn’t significantly impact the chaebol owner?”
“Unless this situation continues for several months or more. A month or two probably won’t have much effect.”
“Then isn’t there another way?”
It takes two hands clapping to make a sound.
Since Hanyang Dairy maintained a policy of non-response, the Short Selling spark couldn’t properly ignite either.
The Stock Price was plummeting now, but if the opponent doesn’t react, the fire will eventually die out quickly.
“Honestly, if we make a quick hit and run, we could see huge profits. We could make 30% profit even if we pull out now.”
“It would be too anticlimactic to end it like that.”
“Right? I was thinking the same thing.”
The General Manager’s expression changed strangely.
It was an annoyingly leisurely smile. Then he immediately made a phone call to someone.
“Chris, you need to come to Korea.”
[Is there some good work to be done?]
“It’s work that’s both fun and profitable. I’ll give you 10% of this profit, so come right away.”
[I was craving Korean food anyway, so this is perfect timing. I’ll bring the whole team.]
After hanging up, I looked at the General Manager.
It was a silent request for him to explain what was going on.
“Have you heard of Activist Fund?”
“I don’t know the details, but I understand it’s a group that raises Stock Price for shareholder interests.”
“Korea hasn’t had proper Activist Fund Activities yet. So unlike American Companies, they’re defenseless against such attacks. And Chris happens to be the representative of Griffin, a well-known Activist Fund on Wall Street.”
Bringing in an Activist Fund representative.
Suddenly, it felt like the stakes had escalated dramatically.
“Is it really okay to mobilize the Griffin Fund representative for something like this?”
“They’re famous, but their scale is small. They only manage about 3 trillion won in assets. Plus, they’re currently very interested in developing emerging markets. The timing is perfect.”
“So they’re trying to enter the Korean market through this incident.”
“It depends on the results. If they see real profits, East Asian clients will line up.”
A renowned activist fund from Wall Street.
Even so, I wondered what they could actually do against Korean companies.
“Korea is different from the United States. The board of directors is just ceremonial, and shareholders’ meetings are merely formalities. What can an activist fund do in such an environment?”
“You shouldn’t think of activist funds as simple shareholder meeting troublemakers. Their impact is completely different. More precisely, their method is to do whatever it takes to amplify that impact.”
The General Manager’s smile had gone beyond mysterious to downright eerie.
What exactly do activist funds do to warrant such a smile?
But one thing was certain. Hanyang Dairy had turned what could have been stopped with a hoe into something requiring a shovel.
***
In front of Hanyang Dairy Headquarters.
A rare spectacle was unfolding that was seldom seen in Korea.
[Owner Family That Ignores Shareholder Rights Must Step Down!]
A man holding a protest sign.
It seemed like an ordinary one-man protest, but the problem was that he was a blonde Westerner.
“Start stock price defense!”
His shouting in broken Korean created a simultaneous sense of novelty and alienation.
Passersby stopped in their tracks, and soon broadcast cameras arrived on the scene.
Reporters flocked to the scene.
They began broadcasting the Westerner’s one-man protest live.
“What is your reason for holding this one-man protest?”
“My stock value is falling!”
The reporter’s questions were conveyed through an interpreter, and his voice was broadcast live on air.
Whether aware of this or not, the Westerner poured out even harsher statements, drawing more attention.
“The stock price is falling, so why isn’t management taking any action? Are they treating shareholders like slaves?”
“Are you a Hanyang Dairy shareholder?”
“I’m Chris, representative of Griffin Fund, which holds 1% equity in Hanyang Dairy.”
Chris even handled his self-introduction skillfully.
He continued with interviews with the media one after another, and eventually the next day all media outlets were plastered with Chris-related coverage.
***
“Chris, you worked hard. It must have been tough standing in this hot weather, right?”
“This much is nothing. In the United States, if you want media coverage, you need to hold up at least a gasoline can. But in Korea, they come running with cameras on their own, so it’s convenient.”
“Oh, and this is Mister Lee, Deputy Branch Manager of the Korean Branch. He’s a very capable person. Get to know him.”
Through the General Manager’s introduction, I exchanged greetings with Chris.
He had looked so serious in the media, but in private he was quite gentle and pleasant.
“Please take care of me. I’m Lee Jung-hoo. Please feel free to call me Mister Lee.”
“I heard rumors. They say you’re the core of IT short selling?”
“The rumors are a bit exaggerated.”
“Making such rumors spread is also an ability. These days, financial markets need media attached to have power. I’m someone who thinks rumors are also a type of media.”
Chris was a strategist who actively utilized public opinion.
Stock prices move not only by the market but also by public sentiment, so it wasn’t a bad method at all.
“So, what’s the next step?”
“To maintain media dominance, we need continuous new events. This time we’re planning to launch a major campaign.”
“What kind of campaign?”
“A minority shareholders campaign. We’re even going to hit public broadcasting ads. Broadcasting ad rates are cheap in Korea.”
He was even planning to utilize broadcast advertising.
As the General Manager said, he was someone who would push forward using any means necessary to increase impact.
“Prime time ads only cost 20 million won though.”
“In America, you’d have to pay 200,000 dollars to get one prime time ad slot. In Korea, you can do broadcast advertising at 10% of the price, so there’s no reason not to do it.”
“So that’s why you asked me to secure ad time? I really struggled to get that ad slot.”
“How did you do it? Prime time should be impossible to book suddenly.”
“They said emergency scheduling is possible for public interest campaigns. The broadcasting company that did the investigative report also helped a lot.”
All preparations had been proceeding steadily even before Chris arrived in Korea.
The General Manager had been running around meeting people for ad scheduling, and even conducted lobbying activities disguised as coordination with broadcasting companies.
“But how much equity are you guys holding? You’d need at least 20% for a minority shareholders campaign to have power.”
“If we combine physical stocks and short selling volume, it’s about 25%.”
“Wow, if it’s that much, we can definitely enjoy the fun for a long time.”
“The travel expenses will easily be covered, so just work hard.”
“When have I ever not worked hard? I was just on my way to start the minority shareholders campaign right now.”
Before he even finished speaking, Chris stood up from his seat.
He picked up the large protest sign again and headed toward Hanyang Dairy.
“The method seems a bit crude.”
“Primitive methods are the most effective. Especially for activist funds, public opinion battles are their lifeblood. You have to show intense actions to attract attention.”
“But General Manager, you seem quite close with Representative Chris.”
“We went to the same school. During university, he was the type who only lived in the library, but maybe because he felt frustrated about that, after entering society he’s been running around outside all the time.”
There were few people that the General Manager trusted this much.
No matter how good someone’s character was, earning the General Manager’s trust was difficult, and ultimately it was only possible if you had real ability.
“I’m looking forward to seeing what Representative Chris will do next.”
“I’m looking forward to it too. But is Giant Coffee still not closing down?”
“They’re still doing business enthusiastically.”
“You’d think they’d shrink back a bit after receiving an indictment. They’re quite stubborn.”
“Still, almost all the customers have come over to our side.”
Giant Coffee was still selling 500 won coffee.
But customers weren’t flocking there just because the price was cheap.
“There must be a difference in coffee taste too. Max Coffee uses premium Ethiopian coffee beans.”
“Thanks to you, General Manager, we’re receiving a stable supply of good coffee beans. And they can’t compete with us in terms of turnover rate. There’s also a big difference in service aspects.”
“It’s the difference between a place that’s fighting for its life and one that isn’t.”
While they were having this conversation, Representative Chris had already arrived at Hanyang Dairy headquarters.
The one-man protest scene was being broadcast live on TV news, and in front of numerous cameras, he officially declared the minority shareholders movement campaign.
***
The owner family held 51% of Hanyang Dairy’s equity shares.
This meant that no matter how much of a minority shareholders movement they launched, they couldn’t seize management rights.
So the actions of the activist fund representative who flew in from the United States just looked like pointless antics to Chairman Han Tae-gwang.
“He’s supposedly someone who made a name for himself in the United States?”
“That’s right. He has a track record of fighting and winning against major American corporations, and has extensive experience leading minority shareholders campaigns.”
“Why would such a person come all the way to Korea to pull this crap?”
“There was talk that he’s preparing to pioneer emerging markets. It seems he’s chosen Korea as his first target.”
This was information the Chief Secretary had obtained by mobilizing his own network.
However, their intelligence was woefully inadequate, and they still didn’t know that Tiger Fund was behind it all.
“What percentage of Minority Shareholders have joined?”
“From what we’ve confirmed so far, it’s only about 5%.”
“Tsk tsk, what do they think they can do with that?”
“It seems they’re trying to use the Media. With only 5% Equity Shares, they can’t do anything at the Board of Directors or Shareholders’ Meeting, but they can make noise through the Media.”
The Media was still continuing its coverage of Hanyang Dairy.
They had tried pressuring by stopping advertisements, but it had little effect against the boiling public opinion.
“They’re even running TV Advertisements. They’re trying to drag in the Media for a dirty fight.”
“There are precedents in the United States where such methods led to victory.”
“Tsk tsk, this isn’t the United States. Whatever the Media says, it ends when we ignore it.”
“But… sales have started to decline. Customer attrition is becoming noticeable due to the negative coverage.”
Sales were the problem.
The Stock Price could fall as much as it wanted, that didn’t matter.
But the sales decline due to negative public opinion was painful.
“Run a Discount Event. And slip some Candy to the Franchise Store Owners too. So they can’t talk nonsense.”
“Then, we’ll proceed with this event entirely at Headquarters’ expense.”
“It’s not like we’re taking all the loss. What was the existing burden ratio?”
“It was a 50% Headquarters, 50% Franchise structure.”
“This time, let’s go with us bearing 70%. If we give everything at once, it’ll be troublesome next time, so we need to release it bit by bit.”
Like father, like son.
Just like Han Dong-su who lowered Giant Coffee prices.
Chairman Han thought that simply lowering prices would bring customers back.
And he still didn’t change the method of passing certain burdens onto the Store Owners.
“We’ll start right away within this week.”
“Good, and I should meet with that Chris guy too. He must be doing this because he wants something, right?”
“I’ll quietly make contact.”
Problems that can be solved with money should be solved with money.
This was Chairman Han Tae-gwang’s way, and he judged it would be better to feed money to Chris rather than spend money defending against Short Selling.
Annual Salary 1 Trillion New Employee Chapter 77
E-book Publication Date | 2025.11.27
Author | Seo Oh
Publisher | Heo Heung-beom, Park Geon-won
Publishing House | Poten
Address | [04783] 10th Floor, 8 Yeonmujang 11-gil, Seongdong-gu, Seoul
Phone | 02-6320-8500
Fax | 02-6320-8585
ISBN | 9791175305892
Price | 100 won
ⓒ Seo Oh 2025
This e-book is a copyrighted work protected by copyright law.
This e-book is published under the author’s contract, and unauthorized reproduction, copying, distribution, and sharing are prohibited without written consent from both parties.
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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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