New Employees With an Annual Salary of 1 Trillion Won - Chapter 87
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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 87. To Korea (2)
I called the Apple Working Staff.
At that moment, Chairman Robertson snatched the phone handset away.
“Since I’ve come all the way to Korea, shouldn’t I do something too?”
“It’s fine. I can handle working staff negotiations sufficiently on my own.”
“The fact that Apple is coming all the way to Korea means they definitely want something from us. In matters like this, the higher up the person who steps forward, the more we can gain.”
The General Manager and Chairman’s figures overlapped in my vision.
And the General Manager just watched the Chairman’s behavior with a smile, staying quietly still.
I had no choice but to hand over the telephone and moved next to the General Manager, whispering quietly.
“Why is he acting like this?”
“That’s just how he is. He really loves doing things spontaneously. And his judgment is excellent too, which is how he made Tiger Fund one of America’s Top 3 Funds.”
He had the complete opposite personality from me.
His appearance now was completely different from when he sat solemnly at Headquarters.
It would be rude to say this, but he looked like an unbridled colt running wild.
“Couldn’t this cause problems with Apple?”
“Just watch quietly. The Chairman is absolutely not the type to take losses.”
Not the type to take losses?
Knowing well how much Tiger Fund Headquarters lost during the IT bubble, I couldn’t help but worry.
But the Chairman continued the phone call, paying no mind to my concerns.
[This is Apple Business Development Department. Who is this?]
“This is Robertson from Tiger Fund. I’m calling because I heard you requested a callback about negotiations with Nexpin.”
[Who, who did you say you were?]
“This is Robertson, Chairman of Tiger Fund.”
[Please wait a moment! I’ll connect you to the Director.]
What could be so amusing?
The Chairman held back laughter while taking the call on speakerphone.
He seemed to be enjoying himself by using Tiger Fund’s and his own reputation to intimidate the Apple Employee.
[Is this Chairman Robertson? This is the Apple Business Development Director. What can I do for you?]
“I heard Apple Working Staff are coming to Korea. I’m thinking of attending this discussion personally, so could you tell me what the content is about? From what I heard from my employees, they said they wanted to have a direct conversation with someone high up, so I called.”
The power of a name was certainly different.
Just from introducing myself once, the business development director appeared right away.
[This isn’t something that requires the Chairman to negotiate personally.]
“Since I’ve already come all the way to Korea, shouldn’t I step up for something like this? But who will be handling the negotiations from Apple’s side?”
[Th-that hasn’t been decided yet.]
“I’d like to negotiate with someone I can communicate with. Do you understand what I mean?”
[Ah, I understand.]
“Then I’ll be waiting in Korea. Let’s meet soon.”
The Chairman hung up the phone first.
We hadn’t discussed at all what we wanted to talk about or what needed to be negotiated.
But the General Manager was so pleased with the Chairman’s approach that he even applauded.
“Thanks to the Chairman, this negotiation will proceed very smoothly.”
“Shouldn’t I at least do this much to earn my keep?”
“I still don’t quite understand.”
“American IT companies are groups with tremendous pride. Deputy Manager, you’ve been communicating with MS and Apple continuously, so don’t you know this well?”
I couldn’t think of any words to refute that.
Even from my experience, the pride of American IT companies was remarkable.
They were a group that considered themselves the center of IT, and especially in MS’s case, they had even rejected patents I had created.
“So thanks to the Chairman, we can now proceed with negotiations on equal footing?”
“That’s right. Apple probably planned to send just a few working staff members to handle the negotiations. But the moment the Chairman steps into negotiations, Apple has no choice but to send someone of matching status.”
Now I could understand the Chairman’s actions a little better.
Of course, I still thought it was unconventional behavior, but the results weren’t bad after all.
“If it’s someone of matching status to the Chairman, who would Apple send?”
“There’s only one person at Apple who matches the Chairman’s status.”
“Are you referring to CEO Steve Jobs?”
“That’s right. He hinted that the CEO must come personally for negotiations to proceed.”
It was certainly better to have final decision-makers talk to each other rather than working staff.
They could negotiate conditions more broadly and make decisions on the spot.
But the problem was whether Apple would accept this.
If they found such an arrangement burdensome and canceled the negotiations entirely, it could be a loss for Nexpin.
But thinking about it more, I realized this wasn’t necessarily an unfavorable situation for us.
“You think Apple is the side that needs something.”
“Exactly. They must need something since Apple said they’d come all the way to Korea themselves, right?”
“But didn’t we already sign a contract at COMDEX? I don’t understand what Apple wants to demand by coming all the way to Korea themselves.”
Unlike MS, Apple had shown great interest in the patents I created.
They were particularly interested in patents related to portable devices and made the most inquiries about them.
“We’ll have to meet them to know what they want. But the initiative is clearly on our side.”
“It seems like they might be trying to create something with Nexpin’s technology as the core.”
“Haha, how long are you two going to talk by yourselves? You can worry about that after the Apple people arrive.”
“I apologize. Deputy Manager, please escort the Chairman and guide him through Nexpin and Rollbook.”
“I’ll escort him.”
I naturally ended up taking on the guide role as well.
The Chairman stuck right next to me, already ready to move, and we carefully headed toward the Nexpin Building.
***
I spent the worst week of my life.
Day by day, my life force was being drained by an existence that destroyed my routine.
“Deputy Manager, what were you thinking when you created this?”
Here we go again.
The Chairman stuck right next to me wherever I was and bombarded me with questions.
Nexpin, Rollbook, Tiger Fund Korea Branch.
Wherever I went, I was on the verge of losing my mind because of the Chairman watching me.
“It’s a Corporate Credit Scoring System. I created it by fixing the loopholes in existing credit ratings, and a similar system is already being applied to Hanseo Card.”
“I heard that the Korea Branch acquired a card company. So you caught companies manipulating their accounting and customers with bad credit using the credit scoring system. Haha, we should bring this system to headquarters too.”
Just today alone, I had already suffered through over 3 hours of questioning.
Fortunately, the Apple representatives had finally arrived in Korea and were coming here.
How much must I have suffered to be looking forward to a negotiation?
The thin-ice atmosphere of the negotiation room was much better than the current situation.
“Chairman, the Apple representatives will arrive soon.”
“Really? Since guests have come from far away, we should go greet them from the entrance. Deputy Manager, come with us.”
The Chairman, General Manager, and myself.
We went down to the lobby, and just then the Apple representatives arrived.
Since they had entered Korea secretly, there was no sign of the press corps, only numerous security guards following behind.
Between the bodyguards, the figures of Apple’s related personnel slowly began to appear.
The figure I had been hoping to see came into view.
“Steve Jobs came in person.”
“Of course he should come. When the Chairman is directly participating in negotiations, it’s right for Apple to send their final decision-maker too.”
Chairman Robertson greeted Steve Jobs with a bright smile.
They exchanged words comfortably, as if they had some connection.
“What brings you to Korea, Chairman? I’m seeing someone in Korea who’s hard to see even in the United States.”
“Isn’t it even more pleasant to see each other here? And Tiger Fund Korea Branch has become a place with as much influence as the US headquarters. Let’s not stay out here and go inside to continue our conversation.”
The Chairman personally guided Steve Jobs to the VIP room.
We were only able to exchange greetings after we had taken our seats.
“It’s been a long time for both of you too. This is the first time since COMDEX. I heard you were promoted to general manager.”
“It just happened that way. And Mister Lee was also promoted to Deputy Branch Manager of Tiger Fund Korea Branch.”
“Mister Lee is really tempting every time I see him. Won’t you come over to Apple even now?”
Steve leaned his head forward as he spoke.
I slightly pulled my head back and expressed my intention to decline.
“I’m good where I am now. And I can collaborate sufficiently with Apple from here too.”
“Collaboration isn’t enough, that’s why I’m saying this.”
“Hey now, really. I’m watching with both eyes wide open, and you’re trying to poach my staff?”
“I’m so tempted that I can’t help it.”
The Chairman and Steve were having an ice-breaking session using me as the topic.
Only after finishing a full cup of coffee did the real negotiations begin.
“If you came all the way to Korea in person, there must be something very important to discuss.”
“I’d like to modify the previous license agreement a bit. The general framework won’t change, but it’s to prevent any potential problems in advance.”
“You came in person for something like that?”
“If it weren’t for you, Chairman, this would have been resolved at the working staff level.”
Chairman Robertson laughed sheepishly.
Meanwhile, Apple’s side presented the contract conditions they had prepared in advance.
“My eyes are getting dim now, so I can’t read these contracts. I’ll step back for a moment.”
“I’ll proceed with the rest of the contract. The conditions have certainly changed quite a lot from the previous contract.”
“Conditions related to Rollbook are included as well, not just Nexpin.”
The Chairman leaned back comfortably in his chair.
In his place, the General Manager and I stepped forward.
“We would also like to introduce Rollbook’s music-related system this time.”
“Although Tiger Fund holds equity shares in Rollbook, Rollbook’s operations are entirely managed by Mister Lee. Any negotiations regarding Rollbook should be conducted with Mister Lee.”
The General Manager naturally passed the baton to me.
I inferred from what Steve had said so far and came to one assumption.
“Are you perhaps planning to enter the MP3 industry?”
“…It’s confidential information so I can’t go into details, but it is related.”
“The only product that could combine the patents and technology Apple has shown interest in so far with Rollbook’s music-related system is MP3.”
“You must maintain confidentiality. That’s correct. We are currently developing an MP3 and targeting a release next year.”
Steve openly revealed the confidential information.
Information about what product a company is making and when it’s scheduled for release is not something that can be easily disclosed.
Of course, some companies do media play for promotional effects, but Apple was not that kind of company.
“I will ensure that what we discussed today never leaks outside. But seeing that you need Rollbook’s system, it seems the music management software development isn’t ready yet.”
“We were working hard on development targeting next year’s release. But we discovered late that a finished product already exists.”
“Is that Rollbook’s music playback management program?”
“That’s right. It matches exactly with the direction Apple is pursuing. So we want to conclude a license agreement for Rollbook’s music playback system.”
-As expected, they were developing an MP3.
Thanks to Steve Jobs’ words, I could now know exactly what Apple’s hidden gear structure was.
“Apple has already concluded a license agreement with Nexpin.”
“We contracted to pay 5% royalty for the initial 2 years and 3% after 2 years.”
“If we also conclude a contract with Rollbook, the royalty will be much higher.”
“That’s the problem I came here personally to discuss. We can’t pay excessive royalties.”
Simply put, he was asking for it cheap.
But this was something that would never work on the Chairman who had lived his entire life on Wall Street.
“I roughly understand the situation. So what percentage do you want for royalties?”
“We would like the royalty raised by 1% more on the condition of using Rollbook’s patents as well.”
“Just 1%? Isn’t 1% too cheap for just taking and using technology that’s already been made?”
“It also comes with the condition that Nexpin and Rollbook become Apple’s eternal partners going forward. It’s definitely not a bad condition.”
Eternal partners.
In fact, this was just a verbal condition.
The word “eternal” doesn’t exist in business relationships.
And the Chairman wasn’t someone who would be swayed by such word games.
“Partnership isn’t something you establish with words, but with documents. How about transferring some equity shares to us?”
“That condition is difficult to accept.”
“Then did you at least prepare a contract fee?”
“Apple’s financial situation isn’t good enough to provide a large contract fee.”
“No equity shares. No money. And we can’t raise the royalty percentage either. What exactly are you proposing to discuss?”
The Chairman pressed his head firmly, suppressing his anger.
During that time, I continued examining Apple’s gear structure and found a way to solve the current problem at once.
New Employee with 1 Trillion Won Annual Salary Chapter 87
E-book Publication Date | 2025.11.27
Author | Seo Oh
Publishers | 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, so 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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