New Employees With an Annual Salary of 1 Trillion Won - Chapter 88
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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 88. To Korea (3)
Chairman and Steve Jobs were still engaged in their battle of words.
They were repeating the same arguments without giving an inch to each other.
As both sides were growing weary, I quietly opened my mouth.
“How about this condition?”
“What condition?”
“We modify the existing royalty contract. We’ll take only 4% royalty across the board, plus an additional 2% for Rollbook royalty.”
I subtly increased the Rollbook royalty from 1% to 2% in my proposal.
Naturally, Steve Jobs waved his hand and expressed his opposition.
“2% royalty is too much. We can’t escape losses by giving that much.”
“Instead, Rollbook and Nexpin will take full responsibility for Apple’s MP3 playback and management system. If Tiger Fund also bears part of the development costs, it’s certainly not a bad condition.”
“Hmm, if you handle development and bear the costs, it’s not bad.”
Chairman and General Manager sent me worried glances.
But I deliberately ignored their looks and continued speaking.
“We’ll provide 20 million dollars for program development costs.”
“That would be more than enough to develop the program.”
“In return, we need to expand the scope of the license agreement. Not only MP3, but if any future Apple devices include download and execution structures, we receive the same royalty.”
Steve Jobs fell into thought for a moment.
His eyes sharpened as if trying to understand the hidden intention behind my proposal.
But unable to find the answer, he instead asked me a question.
“What kind of devices do you think Apple will make in the future to propose this?”
“I can’t know that either. It could be MP3 players, or it could be PDAs or mobile phones. Of course, if Apple doesn’t make any portable devices in the future, this contract becomes meaningless.”
“Hmm, it sounds like you’re betting on Apple’s future.”
“While Tiger Fund might lose money immediately, I’m making this proposal because I believe we can achieve great results if we become eternal partners as Apple suggested.”
I targeted Steve Jobs’ philosophy.
He had a strong tendency to prioritize future value over immediate profits.
I modified the royalty contract by making maximum use of his tendency.
“Let me summarize once. Initial investment of 20 million dollars with program development support. And royalty is 4% across the board plus 2% for Rollbook, totaling 6%. Is that correct?”
“That’s correct. With this contract, Apple can secure the system immediately without development cost burden. Product launch will be accelerated, and market entry will be much faster through connection with Rollbook.”
From Apple’s perspective, there was nothing bad about these conditions.
Especially since Apple’s financial situation wasn’t good, they needed immediate profits right now.
They could reduce development cost burden and accelerate launch speed to aim for increased sales.
“Hmm, I’ll need to think about this a bit more. While it would be beneficial right now, I have a feeling this contract might become a shackle for Apple in the future.”
“This is a path to becoming true partners, not just eternal partners in words only.”
Steve Jobs was still unable to decide and kept pondering.
To change his mind, Chairman threw out a decisive proposal.
“You just barely removed the iCEO (interim CEO) label, but I understand that not all board members still support you. With Tiger Fund’s equity shares, we could occupy at least one board seat. Our shares would fully support you.”
“Even if one additional board seat is added, it would still be difficult for me to lead Apple in the direction I want.”
Currently, Steve Jobs had become the official CEO this past January.
He had been acting as interim CEO for over two years and still hadn’t gained control of the board of directors.
That’s why Chairman played the board card.
General Manager even stepped forward to add weight to Chairman’s words.
“It’s one seat now, but Tiger Fund plans to aggressively buy up Apple’s equity shares going forward. We can secure three or more seats within this year.”
“You’d need to secure about 15% equity shares to get three or more seats.”
“Just investing 1 billion dollars would secure over 15%. And we’re already in discussions with various financial companies.”
It wasn’t a lie.
Apple was one of Tiger Fund’s long-term investment candidates.
Although they had recovered from long-term losses, their stock price was still undervalued due to the aftermath of the IT bubble collapse.
“Three seats would certainly give me strength. But do you have the capacity to invest as much as 1 billion dollars?”
“What do you take Tiger Fund for? Even if we’re not what we used to be, we can certainly spend about 1 billion dollars!”
Chairman raised his voice.
Just a month ago, he wouldn’t have been able to say such things.
But thanks to consecutive successful short selling operations, they had recovered most of their operating funds, so he could speak boldly.
“Could you put that part in a separate contract?”
“You want a separate contract since the official contract will be reviewed by the board? Really, you’re such a suspicious person. Would it work if I write it with the seat securing period set until next year?”
“If you do that, I’ll accept the proposal.”
Now the end of the negotiation was finally coming into view.
Steve Jobs was the most suspicious and meticulous person among all the people I had met.
To persuade such a person, Chairman, General Manager, and even I had poured out every available card we had.
“Let’s make the contract that way. Once the contract is finished, would you like to tour the company?”
“Today I plan to rest, and tomorrow I’d like to tour Nexpin and Rollbook. Would it be possible to ask Mister Lee to provide guidance?”
“I will escort you.”
How could I say no here?
After the Chairman, now I was going to serve as Steve Jobs’ guide as well.
“Now, let’s draft the contract. Those not needed for the contract negotiations can leave now.”
“We’ll be waiting outside.”
The General Manager and I came out of the VIP room.
Detailed contract negotiations were the experts’ responsibility, and it was sufficient to have only those who would sign the final agreement remain.
“Maybe it’s because I lack negotiation experience, but today was the most difficult negotiation I’ve ever encountered.”
“Same here. He’s become even more meticulous than when we met at COMDEX. But can you tell me why you proposed those conditions?”
I had changed the contract conditions on my own without consulting anyone.
I had changed the licensing contract to a comprehensive contract and altered the royalty rates according to my will, so additional explanation was naturally needed.
“I changed the contract conditions because I’m confident in Apple’s success. Looking at the current structure alone, it’s overwhelmingly favorable to Apple, but in the future it could bring us much greater benefits.”
“You must be confident that Apple will make other types of portable devices besides MP3 players?”
“I see MP3 as just the beginning. They’ve already entered the PDA market before, and I’m certain they’ll attempt to expand into other portable device businesses.”
Otherwise, Apple’s gear structure couldn’t be explained.
Among all the companies I had seen so far, Apple had the most massive gear structure.
Of course, most of the structure was still transparent as it hadn’t been implemented yet, but in another sense, it also meant the company had infinite growth potential.
“It seems like more than just confidence in Apple’s success.”
“This might sound excessive, but I believe it’s a company that could someday reach the ranks of world number one.”
“Hmm, if Employee Lee is that confident, we should move more quickly. We need to secure Apple’s equity shares more aggressively.”
Apple’s market capitalization was about 7 billion dollars.
To secure the promised 15% equity shares, we would need over 1 billion dollars.
But we had already made 9 billion dollars in profit from short selling.
Investing 1 billion dollars of that was by no means a burdensome task.
“Until the MP3 launch, Apple’s stock price is expected to continue declining.”
“Thanks to Rollbook, the launch date might be moved up, so we should buy as many shares as possible within this year. There are many financial companies on the verge of bankruptcy anyway, so we can acquire them without much difficulty.”
“Securing Apple’s equity shares will be a major profit in the long term.”
“Let’s add the Apple investment to Employee Lee’s performance record as well.”
Apple would take at least several years to show profits.
But there was no need to refuse, so I bowed my head lightly with gratitude.
“Thank you.”
“While the Chairman is in the VIP room, let’s head over to Nexfin and start organizing the profits.”
“You mean organizing the short selling profits?”
“That’s right. We’ve finally completely liquidated our short positions. We should share this good news with the Nexfin employees too.”
We headed to Nexfin to share the good news.
I could see my colleagues working like zombies.
To breathe some life into them, the General Manager immediately started clapping.
“Congratulations everyone. We achieved quite a high return rate with this investment.”
“How much profit did we make?”
“Employee Lee will give you the detailed profit report.”
I had received the profit-related information during our move.
It seemed like having me announce the details would make for a better presentation.
“We used 150 billion won, which is 30% of the 500 billion won in employee accounts, for this investment. The return rate was 450%, with profits of 675 billion won. Each employee will receive 26.25 billion won after deducting their investment amount.”
“Is a 450% return rate even possible?”
“It’s only been a few months, hasn’t it? How did we make 4.5 times our investment!”
“Then how much money is in the employee accounts now? Since we earned 26.2 billion won this time, it’s over 49.7 billion won?”
“We need to calculate the 1.5 billion each we received from the Hanyang Dairy short selling too!”
The employees now held exactly 51.25 billion won each.
Their holdings had more than doubled at once, and it was now a sufficient amount to move on to the next stage.
“It’s become difficult to generate profits using only our current methods.”
“Employee Lee, what do you mean by that? Are you saying we should withdraw the money now?”
“That’s not it. I want to use part of the funds in the employee accounts to acquire corporations and create a stable profit structure.”
When money accumulates in bank accounts, people naturally start having other thoughts.
Even just taking the current 51.2 billion won would be enough money for not just a lifetime, but for three generations to live comfortably.
So to keep them tied to Nexfin, I needed different shackles, and that was corporate acquisition.
I had already finished discussing this with the General Manager.
With just the colleagues’ consent, I had even received permission to use the employee account funds as I saw fit.
“This is the conclusion Employee Lee and I reached after consultation. If anyone opposes this, you’re free to leave at any time.”
“If the General Manager and Employee Lee decided this, we should naturally follow. Right?”
“Of course! I’ve resolved to follow unconditionally!”
The reaction was better than I had expected.
Of course, he planned to continue providing them with tremendous profits.
They would never be able to leave Nexpin and would have to spend their entire lives here.
“But what kind of company are you planning to acquire?”
“We plan to acquire a company related to Nexpin, and all of us will become major shareholders of that company.”
“What difference does it make to become major shareholders?”
“We’ll also have to take charge of management. We plan to operate it like an affiliate of Nexpin, and one of us will have to serve as the chief executive.”
“Does that mean we have to transfer from Nexpin to there?”
“That’s not it. You’ll remain affiliated with Nexpin while also serving as president of the affiliate.”
Everyone fell into thought.
Someone smiled at the thought of being able to hold the title of president.
Those who could read the situation accurately frowned at the prospect of increased workload.
It didn’t matter what they were thinking.
Once they had stepped foot in the swamp, they could never escape.
New Employee with 1 Trillion Won Annual Salary Chapter 88
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 contract with the author, 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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