The Return of the Ruined Chaebol's Third-Generation Heir - Chapter 81

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

The Regression of a Fallen Chaebol’s Third Generation — Episode 81
“So what came up?”
Jason held out his laptop as Ryan Holt emerged from the conference room.
“Danny Kim. Came from Salomon Securities. He was in structured products, stayed there even after the group was acquired, and left three years ago.”
“That right?”
Jason flipped through the screen.
“And here’s the thing — there’s talk that he made serious money off the Lehman Brothers Crisis.”
“……Serious money?”
“The exact amount doesn’t show up anywhere. But word on Wall Street is that Danny Kim shorted before the subprime implosion and made a killing.”
Holt folded his arms. A fund that made money off the Lehman Brothers Crisis.
He’d heard the rumors before — stories about certain hedge funds doing the same thing.
But it was his first time hearing that one of them came out of Korea. Still, since Jason had cross-checked it, it didn’t seem to be pure fiction.
“What about Ribbon Capital?”
“Registered in the Cayman Islands.”
The Cayman Islands.
A small island nation in the Caribbean where more than half of the world’s hedge funds and offshore investment vehicles are registered.
It’s a structure designed to reduce tax burden — standard practice from mega-funds down to family offices.
“No homepage. Portfolio isn’t disclosed. Assets under management don’t show up anywhere.”
“…….”
“And we can’t figure out who the CEO is.”
Holt’s eyes narrowed.
“Isn’t Danny Kim the CEO?”
“Can’t confirm. The decision-maker isn’t listed anywhere.”
“Then what is that kid?”
Holt turned his head toward the conference room as he spoke. Through the glass, he could see Seon-woo sitting inside.
“No idea. Could be an analyst under Danny Kim.”
“An analyst throwing around fifty million dollars?”
“That’s what makes it fishy.”
Jason snapped his laptop shut as he spoke.
“Here’s the summary: Danny Kim’s track record checks out. He’s got Wall Street experience, there are rumors he made a move during the Lehman thing. But the company is a Cayman shell corporation, we don’t know who owns the money, and we can’t figure out what that young kid is either.”
Holt didn’t answer.
“Ryan, step back for a second. This is all the information we have on a place wanting to put in fifty million dollars. Is that really okay?”
Jason’s point was rational.
But rational arguments didn’t always lead to the right choice.
“Is Cayman registration suspicious? Half of all hedge fund portfolios are registered in the Caymans.”
“The structure isn’t the problem — it’s the lack of transparency.”
“Right, it’s not transparent. But Jason, what’s a con artist going to squeeze out of us from across the Pacific?”
Jason fell silent.
“What do we have for them to take? Cash? We don’t have any. Technology? We’re not signing a tech agreement — this is an investment. Nothing gets transferred.”
It wasn’t wrong. Jason knew that too. Which made it all the more maddening.
“When’s payroll?”
“……Thursday.”
“Today’s Monday.”
They both already knew the facts.
If the money doesn’t come in by Thursday, they can’t make payroll, and if they can’t make payroll, the remaining eleven employees walk out.
The other investors said they’d talk after Christmas. Mark apologized.
The other VCs wouldn’t take his calls.
And right now, there’s someone sitting in the conference room talking about fifty million dollars.
“There’s one thing to confirm.”
Holt turned around.
“Whether that money is real. I can ask inside.”
Jason tried to say something more, but Holt was already reaching for the conference room door.

* * *
“I’m going to ask you directly.”
I was waiting in the meeting room with Danny when Ryan Holt and the COO entered the conference room shortly after.
The way he got straight to the point showed the face of someone looking for confirmation.
“Fifty million dollars. Can you move that money right now?”
Holt asked as he sat down, and instead of answering, I glanced to my side.
“Danny.”
Danny pulled a document from his bag and placed it on the table.
“This is a certificate proving we can send the fifty million dollars we mentioned right now. You’re welcome to contact the custodian bank to verify.”
It was an Asset Certification Document issued by the custodian bank.
Holt picked up the document. Jason leaned over to look at it with him.
Both men’s eyes stopped on the numbers.
“…….”
Holt set the document down.
His eyes met Jason’s. Jason gave a barely perceptible nod.
The fifty million dollars confirmed itself as no bluff.
“Then I have one more question.”
Holt looked directly at me.
“Seon-woo, who are you? Danny has an impressive background — I looked into it. But nothing comes up on you.”
It was the question I expected. I thought it was coming too late, if anything.
“Does it matter who I am?”
“It does.”
Holt leaned forward.
“Because you just mentioned fifty million dollars. For a round that’s only thirty million.”
Interesting.
A CEO who couldn’t even fill a thirty-million-dollar round was now calling his own target figure “only”.
He was beginning to believe we really meant to invest fifty million.
“The decision-maker with full authority over this investment.”
I had no desire to elaborate.
Holt’s expression looked unsatisfied, but it didn’t matter.
“Then you should be honest with me too, Ryan.”
Holt’s eyes moved slightly.
“Why did you lie about eighteen million dollars coming in?”
The air in the conference room changed.
Jason dropped his gaze, and Danny sat without changing his expression.
Only Holt looked directly at me.
About three seconds of silence passed.
I thought he’d shrink back, but Holt just leaned against his chair.
“Why are you still sitting here if you know that?”
It wasn’t the attitude of someone caught in a lie. Rather, it was the look of someone testing me.
I felt the corner of my mouth rise. So that’s how this man survives.
“Because dying companies are the cheapest.”
Holt exhaled through his nose. It was unclear whether it was a laugh or a sigh.
“……You’re honest.”
“Since we’re being honest, let me ask one more thing. How much actually came in?”
Holt’s jaw tightened slightly.
Jason next to him looked at Holt, but Holt didn’t avert his gaze.
“Two million dollars.”
Two million in a thirty-million-dollar round.
I knew they were dying because they couldn’t fill the round, but hearing the specific number was brutal.
I felt Danny inhale sharply beside me.
“Good. I appreciate the honesty. Let me make a proposal then. Ribbon will invest fifty million dollars.”
Holt’s eyes narrowed again.
“Our round is thirty million.”
“We can expand the round.”
Holt looked at me for a moment, then shook his head.
“The valuation is locked in at two hundred million pre-money. That’s not changing.”
It meant the company was valued at two hundred million dollars before the investment came in.
In other words, investing fifty million would net twenty-five percent equity.
“You’re saying the company is worth two hundred million?”
Probably many venture capital firms are turning down investments in Volta for this exact reason.
They don’t think the valuation is really two hundred million, so even when offered investment, they get so little equity they don’t even look at it.
“Everyone says that right now. But can they still say it in two years?”
Even dying, this man carried such confidence.
It was the certainty of someone who built the Lightning with his own hands.
And he wasn’t wrong either.
Within a year, let alone two, this company’s valuation would be ten times higher.
“Fine. By that valuation, fifty million gets us twenty-five percent.”
“…….”
Holt’s expression hardened.
“I can’t give you that much equity.”
“Then how about this: twenty percent equity. In exchange, give Ribbon Capital exclusive investment rights for all future rounds before Volta goes public.”
It was a proposal to only take our money in future investment rounds.
Holt immediately shook his head.
“That’s putting a noose around our neck. If you decide you don’t like us next time we need money, we’re done.”
“It’s insurance. So you don’t have to call VCs if this situation happens again.”
“Still not. I can’t give exclusivity.”
He was firm. As expected.
“Then we’ll drop the exclusivity.”
I steadied my breath and spoke.
“Instead, the right to participate in the next round at the same ratio. That should work, right?”
Pro-rata rights were far lighter terms compared to exclusive investment rights.
When Volta received additional investment, new shares would be issued and Ribbon’s shareholding would be diluted. For instance, holding twenty percent could eventually shrink to ten percent.
Of course, the total value of shares could very well increase, but what I needed was the shareholding ratio.
Pro-rata rights meant the ability to invest additional capital to maintain the twenty percent ratio when shareholding was diluted — it was necessary to protect the ratio.
I started with exclusive investment rights because if I’d proposed this from the beginning, they wouldn’t accept it.
“…….”
Holt continued deliberating. He understood our proposal was the best option, yet he questioned once more.
I nodded and stood up.
“Danny, shall we?”
As Danny and I stood, Volta’s COO Jason looked at us with a startled expression.
“Think about it and call us.”
Holt lifted his head.
“We’ve made all the proposals we can, and now the choice is yours, Ryan Holt. I know there isn’t much time left.”
I spoke directly to Ryan Holt.
“We’ll wait.”
Danny rose and followed.
As we left the conference room, I felt Holt’s gaze on my back, but I didn’t turn around.

* * *
“Why’d you leave? It looked like it was almost done.”
As soon as we got in the car after leaving Volta, Danny asked.
“Because it was almost done.”
“……What do you mean?”
Danny started the car, his head tilted in confusion.
“If we sat and waited, we’d be the ones hanging on. But by standing up in there, the weight of the decision goes to Holt.”
“It could still fall through though.”
“It won’t.”
If money doesn’t come in by Christmas, Volta is finished. In my previous life, they nearly collapsed around this time too.
Miraculously, they found another investor, but now with my involvement, Ryan Holt won’t be thinking about anyone else.
Because there’s an investor willing to put in fifty million dollars.
Holt knows we’re the only option left.
He’s just pretending not to.
“And the valuation.”
Danny brought up the main point as he turned the wheel.
“Why didn’t you negotiate it down? The company only got two million in. Pre-money two hundred million? That doesn’t make sense. A company in that state should accept half that without complaint.”
He was right. Practically speaking.
You could argue that valuing a dying company at two hundred million wasn’t generous — it was stupid.
But Danny still doesn’t understand Ryan Holt as a person.
“Think about why Holt could only raise two million dollars.”
“…….”
“He could’ve gotten funded if he’d lowered the valuation. The VCs didn’t all run away — they didn’t invest because the terms didn’t work. But he still didn’t lower it.”
Danny’s expression changed. He understood.
“Pride?”
“Yes. A man who would rather die than devalue his company. He won’t lower it for us either. Do we have time to win a tug-of-war over that?”
The streets of Palo Alto passed outside the window.
Buildings with “For Lease” signs, half-empty parking lots.
Volta Motors is dying among other dying companies, but Volta is different.
There’s an actually functioning, excellent electric vehicle, and there’s an innovative founder like Ryan Holt. The only problem is that right now, I’m the only person in the world who knows that.
“Still, we’re buying expensive.”
Danny muttered, eyes on the road.
“For now.”
Danny glanced at me for a moment. He seemed like he wanted to ask something but didn’t.
After a brief silence, Danny opened his mouth.
“You think he’ll take it?”
“After Christmas, Volta is done.”
That one sentence was enough.
If money doesn’t come in, the remaining employees leave, and the Lightning stays locked in a warehouse, never seeing daylight.
Holt won’t choose that, no matter how stubborn he is.
Danny didn’t ask anything more. The answer was already decided.
“So we’re heading to Berkeley now?”
“Yes. I have someone to meet.”
“We’ve got time.”
“Let’s head over and look around while we wait.”
Danny smiled through his nose and turned the steering wheel.
Ryan Holt will call. That means the next task is securing another person.

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