The Return of the Ruined Chaebol's Third-Generation Heir - Chapter 131

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Regression of a Fallen Chaebol’s Third Generation — Episode 131
“Have you thought about investing in Bitcoin?”
Han Jae-yi, who had arrived at the office first, asked about Bitcoin investment the moment she sat down—something I’d mentioned weeks before.
Over the past two months, Bitcoin’s price had climbed from pocket-change levels to over three dollars, and market participants were beginning to take notice.
Rumors had started spreading around this time that several famous investors had made fortunes investing in Bitcoin.
“Actually, I had something to say about that very thing today.”
“Yeah? I’m curious. When is Danny going to—”
“Since I’m in South Korea, I’m used to meetings at this hour.”
Just then, Danny stepped into the office and spoke, causing both Han Jae-yi and me to burst out laughing.
“Speak of the devil.”
At Han Jae-yi’s remark, Danny shrugged his shoulders.
“So I’m the devil, huh? You really do have good sense, Jae-yi.”
“Ugh, what can you even say to Danny? He never loses a word, I swear.”
I watched the two of them and laughed, then nodded to Jung Tae-sung.
“Now that Han and Danny are here, should we get started? Director Jung, please have a seat too. I have things to discuss about SJ as well.”
“Yes, understood.”
Once Jung Tae-sung was seated, I looked at the three of them and opened my mouth.
“I have good news. Ochang is finally starting to pull its weight.”
“By Ochang, you mean Shinhwa Welltech and Synaps?”
Once the meeting began, Han Jae-yi had slipped into formal speech, and I explained the progress of Shinhwa Welltech, which was producing results through transactions with Japanese companies, and Synaps, which was about to hold a demonstration for Seonjin Logistics.
Danny, who had been listening quietly, nodded and spoke.
“It really does seem like industries are determined by how much money you throw at them. When you first invested in those two companies, I couldn’t figure out why you’d go so far.”
“True. Shinhwa Welltech was already a profitable company, but Synaps was…”
Han Jae-yi hesitated, and I picked up the thread.
“A money pit.”
“But now it’s actually trying to turn a profit—that’s almost shocking.”
Danny said this with genuine conviction in his voice.
“If you made your investment by seeing this kind of timing, I’ve got to concede. You definitely understand industry better than I do.”
“Well, that’s only natural. Danny only knows money, and our president here has spent his whole life watching business management.”
Han Jae-yi chimed in, and I let out a soft laugh.
“Anyway, I just wanted to share this news with you both.”
“That’s not why you called us in though, right?”
At Danny’s question, I nodded.
“Now that manufacturing is on track, I want to clarify the roles of our investment firms as well.”
Until now, the domains of SJ Holdings, Ribbon Capital, and DK Capital had been overlapping. I’d been running them on a system where I directed every detail. Now it was time to separate their lanes and develop their specialization.
“Let me start with Ribbon Capital.”
I looked toward Han Jae-yi as I spoke.
“Ribbon Capital’s domain will be Macro-based securities investment.”
Macro referred to macroeconomics—in other words, Ribbon Capital’s role would be to invest in stocks, bonds, and derivatives based on global economic trends.
“I’m going to divide Ribbon Capital into two areas within itself.”
Han Jae-yi began taking notes on what I said.
“First, you’ll do what you do best—reduce risk and diversify positions. No matter what the market is chasing, you’ll invest within the principles you’re best at.”
Since her high school club days, Han Jae-yi had been thorough about Risk Management.
In my previous life, she’d become one of Yeouido’s finest players precisely because of her ruthlessly meticulous risk control.
“Second, when macro events occur, you’ll add more aggressive positions on top of those disciplines.”
“For example?”
“When central banks make moves, or when governments set the board.”
“So like during the Lehman crisis or the Greece crisis?”
“Yes.”
“I like it. Honestly, I’ve been doing stock trading up until now, but I always wondered if it was the right thing.”
And each time she’d come ask me to decide on positions. It was an enormously inefficient process in investing.
Of course, this division wouldn’t mean I’d withdraw from Ribbon Capital’s investments entirely.
I could make money during the windows where I had information about the future that only I knew, and I would get involved then.
“The funding character will be 100% internal. We won’t take outside investors, and please try to minimize any external exposure. Even with the staff…”
“Don’t worry about that. Since I structured it so that when we brought in employees, no one could know what each team was doing, they don’t know what other teams do except their own work.”
Han Jae-yi’s thoroughness showed itself in that kind of place too.
“Good. I’ll trust you, then.”
Han Jae-yi nodded with a smile.
“Next is DK Capital.”
I looked toward Danny, and he had a look that said he was ready to listen.
“DK Capital will operate within South Korea.”
“That’s what you said when you first created DK Capital.”
“Right. We’ll operate thoroughly within South Korea, doing the things that Ribbon Capital and SJ Holdings can’t do openly, becoming a major player.”
Ribbon Capital and SJ Holdings couldn’t operate openly because they needed to hide their control structure.
That was why DK Capital was created.
A company that extended my operational reach on behalf of the other two, cloaked in shadow.
“DK Capital will do two things, like Ribbon Capital. First, it’s a specialist in distressed asset investment, just as you’re doing now.”
We’d spotted Seonjin Trading Company’s troubles, bought their ships, and leased them back. We were also acquiring troubled savings banks in line with the savings bank crisis.
“Going forward, I want to expand your scope—real estate Project Financing, mid-sized company Workouts, all distressed asset acquisitions should be handled by DK Capital.”
“That sounds like you’re telling me to be more aggressive?”
“Yes. My goal is to make it so that when distressed companies emerge in South Korea later, the government comes looking for DK Capital first.”
Corporate bankruptcy was something the government hated most.
Too many livelihoods depended on a single company, and a company’s failure was an economy’s failure, so they wanted to intervene however they could to minimize the shock.
If DK Capital became the firm the government sought out, we’d become their absolute lifeline, and if we could make demands in return, there would be nowhere that could ignore DK Capital.
“That sounds good. In fact, during the recent process of acquiring troubled savings banks, the government has been saying they want us to do more.”
I nodded.
“That kind of rapport is important. That’s why I told you to build a separate government relations team for DK Capital.”
“Alright. So what’s the second thing?”
“Second is Financial Boutique operations.”
“Financial Boutique?”
Danny asked, sounding quite unfamiliar with the term.
“I know what a boutique is—it’s a shop that sells expensive luxury goods. But when you put ‘financial’ in front of it, it sounds weird.”
It might be an unfamiliar concept now, but before I came back, the Financial Boutique market had a scale beyond imagination.
“It’s literal. What does a boutique do? Like you said, they bring in expensive luxury items regardless of brand, mark them up with a commission, and sell them.”
Wealthy people preferred boutiques where experts had curated and displayed the items to wandering through department stores looking at different brands.
“DK Capital will do the same thing. M&A advisory for companies, IPO management, corporate consulting, restructuring services, and so on.”
In other words, work that the wealthy found too tedious to do themselves, or tasks in specialized domains that we could handle on their behalf.
“So you’re saying we should do the kind of consulting that McKinsey or BCG does?”
“No. There’s a difference. Consulting firms don’t actually execute—they give the blueprint to the company.”
“Then…”
“DK Capital would be the contractor. The company gets the blueprint from a consulting firm like McKinsey, and DK Capital actually executes it.”
Interest flooded Danny’s face at my words.
“That sounds fun.”
“Consulting firms get paid for advice, but DK Capital would complete all the work and receive success fees.”
“I get it. You’d make a lot more money that way.”
“Yes, but the downside is getting your hands dirty.”
“So what? Whether you’re swinging a hammer or getting grease on you, if you’re making money, it’s all the same.”
“Since DK Capital will run on these two tracks, get the operations structured.”
“Sure thing. I’ll head back tomorrow and have the team discuss how to do this internally, then send you a report.”
I nodded and opened my mouth.
“Just keep doing what you’ve been doing.”
“That doesn’t sound like a compliment.”
“It is a compliment. I think there shouldn’t be a single person in South Korea who doesn’t know the name Danny Kim.”
“So should we keep the advertising going?”
“Yes. Keep advertising, and meet with the press when opportunities come up.”
Danny nodded, and I turned my attention to Jung Tae-sung.
“Finally, I’ll discuss SJ Holdings.”
Jung Tae-sung opened his notebook.
“Currently, Ribbon Capital holds 51 percent of SJ Holdings. But eventually, that direction needs to flip.”
“You mean SJ Holdings will take control, sir?”
“Yes. Not right now. But when I eventually go public about all of this to everyone, SJ Holdings will take the seat of a holding company above Ribbon Capital and DK Capital. The goal is to make it look like one unified entity from the outside.”
“So Ribbon Capital stays in the Caymans, and only SJ Holdings is visible from the outside.”
Han Jae-yi summarized quickly.
“Exactly right.”
As I agreed, Jung Tae-sung began making notes.
“SJ Holdings has four things to do immediately.”
“Geez, are you trying to work Director Jung to death?”
At Danny’s words, I smiled.
“Four things just sounds like a lot, but I’m being specific about the work you’ve been doing all along.”
“I’ll follow your instructions.”
At Jung Tae-sung’s response, Danny and Han Jae-yi shook their heads as if weary.
“First is managing the Ochang companies. Just continue as you have been. Second is managing the Seonjin Group equity stake that SJ Holdings owns and managing the Seongshin Savings Bank equity stake.”
These were two tasks that Jung Tae-sung was already handling.
“Third, expand your venture capital personnel.”
“You mean venture capital investment, sir?”
“Yes. As for stock trading right now, transfer all of that to Ribbon Capital. The staff can move to Ribbon Capital as well.”
SJ Holdings had been growing money through domestic stock investments, but it looked better to transfer that work to Ribbon Capital now.
“If DK Capital is the place that picks up broken things, fixes them, and sells them, then SJ will go in the direction of spotting things that haven’t yet bloomed and growing them for sale.”
“I understand what you’re saying.”
“The first target for venture capital is to look into Bitcoin exchanges.”
At my words, Danny and Jung Tae-sung looked confused, while Han Jae-yi looked surprised.
“Bitcoin is a new type of investment vehicle that’s recently emerged. Of course, it’s probably still an unfamiliar concept.”
“……”
“If we invest directly in it, we could make big money, but I don’t want to invest in something without substance.”
Of course, I knew that Bitcoin would develop further and create an entire ecosystem with numerous derivative altcoins.
I also knew it would grow to be worth tens of thousands of dollars.
But I didn’t have the confidence to explain that future well to them, and besides, as I said, I didn’t want to invest in something without substance.
“Still, I have faith that this will grow. That’s why I’ll invest in something with substance.”
“You mean an exchange?”
Han Jae-yi asked. Since I’d promised to answer her Bitcoin question just moments earlier, I nodded and opened my mouth.
“Think of it as a kind of Gold Rush. During the American frontier era, when everyone went west looking for gold, think of the pickaxes in their hands or the jeans they wore.”
“……”
“The companies that made and sold pickaxes and jeans didn’t care whether there was actually gold in the west. What mattered was that people believed there was gold.”
I continued, looking at Han Jae-yi.
“Based on that belief, the most stable way to make money is through the exchange. Whether the stock market is good or bad, securities firms make money. Whether the Bitcoin market is good or bad, exchanges will make big money.”
“……”
“Did that answer your question?”
At my question, Han Jae-yi slowly nodded as if satisfied.
“I’ll look into the Bitcoin exchange as you’ve described.”
“Yes. If Bitcoin is an investment product, exchanges will definitely emerge. Start by looking into the United States first.”
“Yes, understood.”
“Fourth is an extension of what you’ve been doing—expand the Charitable Scholarship Program. Within ten years, I want all of South Korea’s talented people to be holding SJ Holdings scholarships and sitting in those positions.”
Human capital was something I’d overlooked in my previous life.
And in a way, it was an asset even more important than money.
“Understood.”
After all the instructions were finished, I looked at the three of them.
“Now the board is becoming clearer, don’t you think?”
All three nodded.
“I trust that all of you will excel in your respective positions. Of course, when it matters, I’ll step in, but within the structure we’ve laid out now, I’ll give you as much autonomy as possible. Let’s end the meeting here.”
Just as Ochang had, the investment firms would now find clear roles within the divided structure and grow their scale.
“You’re not calling us in late and ending without buying us dinner, right?”
When Danny asked, I smiled broadly and nodded.
“Let’s go. We’ll get some food.”
“Yes!”
Han Jae-yi and Danny stood up eagerly and left the office first, and I followed them out with Jung Tae-sung.

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