Under the bright fluorescent lights
Dressed in athletic shorts, a t-shirt, and a headband, Seok-won moved vigorously inside an indoor squash court, playing alone.
Thwack! Thump! Thump!
With a loud sound, the white squash ball rebounded off the wall. Seok-won swiftly chased after it and swung his racket with all his might.
The ball shot across the court, striking the wall once more.
"Huff… Huff…"
His breathing grew heavier, and his workout clothes, soaked with sweat, clung to his body. Yet, Seok-won remained focused, relentlessly darting left and right to chase the ball.
After a long session of swinging his racket, he delivered one final powerful smash and ca to a halt.
Standing still with his racket in hand, he steadied his breathing, then wiped the sweat from his forehead with his wristband.
"Phew."
With a slight shrug of his shoulders, Seok-won walked to the corner of the court, picked up a water bottle, and took a long gulp of electrolyte drink.
Just as he grabbed a towel to wipe his face, his phone buzzed with an incoming call.
"Hello?"
[Boss, it's .]
As soon as he picked up the call, Landon's voice ca through.
"How's the weather in Paris?"
Seok-won asked, draping the towel over one shoulder.
[It's been overcast since yesterday, gloomy and dull—not great.]
Following Seok-won's orders to acquire a company, Landon had traveled to France instead of staying in New York.
"That's unfortunate."
[Well, I'm not here for sightseeing, so it's not a big problem.]
"How's the deal going?"
[We've finalized the acquisition of GTT for $160 million.]
Hearing the awaited response, a deep smile spread across Seok-won's face.
"Good work."
[You told
to make the deal happen no matter what, even if we had to pay extra. So we settled at this price, but I can't help but worry—aren't we overpaying for the company?]
Landon voiced his concern, but Seok-won thought differently.
"It might seem that way now, but before long, it'll beco a steady cash cow, bringing in massive profits every year."
[Honestly, it's hard to believe, but your instincts have never been wrong. I just hope this ti your choice is spot on again.]
Landon expressed his concern, but Seok-won thought differently.
"It might seem that way now, but before long, it'll turn into a steady cash cow, bringing in massive profits every year."
[Honestly, it's hard to believe, but your instincts have never been wrong. I just hope your choice is spot on again this ti.]
"Just wait and see. In a few years, they'll be kicking themselves for selling the company at such a bargain."
There was a solid reason behind Seok-won's confidence.
The company he was acquiring, Gaztransport & Technigaz SA (GTT), wasn't just an ordinary ship engineering firm. It held the core proprietary technology for LNG (liquefied natural gas) vessels.
LNG cargo tanks, which had to withstand external shocks while maintaining an ultra-low temperature of -163°C, weren't sothing just anyone could build. They required highly advanced engineering and design expertise.
These LNG cargo tanks were categorized into two major types: Moss-type and mbrane-type. Among them, GTT owned the patents and core technology for mbrane-type tanks.
'Right now, Moss and mbrane types have similar market shares, but soon, the industry will shift entirely toward mbrane-type.'
Unlike the Moss-type, which featured a fully independent, spherical cargo tank, the mbrane-type had a structure integrated with the ship's hull. This made it less susceptible to external forces, allowed for greater LNG storage capacity, and reduced construction costs.
Despite these advantages, the decisive factor in the competition between the two designs was, surprisingly, Korean shipbuilders.
'While Japanese shipbuilders primarily focused on Moss-type LNG carriers, Korea specialized in mbrane-type vessels.'
As Korean shipbuilders won the fierce battle against Japan and dominated the global shipbuilding market, the industry naturally shifted toward mbrane-type LNG tanks as the standard.
'The ironic and sowhat tragic part is that, even as Korea took over the global shipbuilding industry, the one raking in the profits behind the scenes was the French company, GTT.'
With that thought, Seok-won recalled a conversation he had with Manager Oh before his regression.
~
"Wow. This is just absurd."
Manager Oh, sitting in a plastic chair, idly swinging his foot in a pair of three-striped slippers, unfolded a newspaper and shook his head.
Seok-won looked up. "What's in the news?"
Holding a cigarette between his fingers, Manager Oh exhaled a puff of smoke.
"Take a look at this."
"Ah, that one?"
As Seok-won casually dabbed shoe polish onto a cloth wrapped around one hand, he responded indifferently.
"What's the point of sweating under the scorching sumr sun to build ships if we end up paying billions in royalties every year? There's nothing left for us in the end."
Seok-won shrugged and replied,
"It's frustrating that our profits shrink, but we lack the core technology. What choice do we have? It's not like we can stop building ships just because we don't want to pay royalties."
"Tch. That's true."
"I heard that the company profiting the most from royalties is that French firm, GTT."
As Seok-won skillfully polished his shoes, he asked, and Manager Oh folded his newspaper, setting it aside.
"Yeah. Apparently, every ti an LNG ship is built, 5% of the construction cost goes to GTT as royalties."
"LNG ships are ridiculously expensive, so 5% must be an enormous sum."
"This is exactly what people an when they say, 'The bear does the trick, but the master takes the money.'"
At those words, Seok-won's expression turned bitter.
"Getting angry won't suddenly give us the technology—it'll just be frustrating for no reason. Besides, the fact that our shipbuilders are paying that much in royalties ans they're producing and selling a lot of ships. That's a good thing, right? Otherwise, we wouldn't even see articles like this."
"Sigh. Yeah, you've got a point. No use getting worked up over it."
"Right now, we're paying royalties to build LNG ships, but one day, we'll develop our own technology and build them without relying on anyone else."
"I hope so. It'd be nice if we weren't just making money for others all the ti."
Clicking his tongue, Manager Oh put his cigarette back in his mouth.
anwhile, Seok-won placed the polished shoe down and picked up the other one. Glancing sideways at the newspaper, he muttered,
"Just sitting back and collecting billions in royalties every year… sounds pretty nice."
"Hmm. Yeah."
Manager Oh wiggled his toes and continued,
"It's annoying to be the one getting drained, but if you want to stick the straw in, that's how you do it."
"Exactly."
As Seok-won continued polishing his shoes, he couldn't help but feel envious.
~
Recalling the past conversation, he muttered to himself,
'Now, instead of France, I'll be the one collecting that money.'
Just imagining the billions of won being deposited into his account every year filled him with satisfaction.
[Boss?]
"Ah, I was lost in thought for a mont. What did you say?"
[I asked if we should proceed with the contract as is.]
"Go ahead."
[Understood. I'll et with GTT again tomorrow to finalize the contract and sign the papers.]
"Let
know once everything is wrapped up."
[Will do.]
As if he had more to say, Landon continued.
[Oh, and Yahoo reached out regarding additional investnt.]
Seok-won narrowed his eyes.
"We just invested less than a month ago. What's this about?"
[The CEO of a Japanese IT company called SoftBank personally visited them with an investnt proposal.]
Hearing this, Seok-won imdiately realized that history was unfolding exactly as it had before his regression. Masahiro Son, forrly known as Masayoshi Son, had approached Yahoo's founders.
[Apparently, he valued Yahoo at $40 million and offered to invest.]
Landon spoke in a tone of disbelief, but Seok-won knew that this was no exaggeration. In fact, he rembered that after SoftBank's initial investnt, they would pour in another $100 million the following year, securing 29% of Yahoo's shares.
"So what did Yahoo say?"
[They're obviously not going to refuse soone offering them more money. According to the preemptive acquisition clause, if we choose not to invest under the sa terms, they'll accept SoftBank's proposal instead.]
"Did they ntion the specific amount they're looking to secure?"
[We'll need to negotiate to know for sure, but for now, Yahoo seems to be considering offering 5% of its shares for around $2 million.]
With his phone pressed to his ear, Seok-won nodded.
"We already hold a 40% stake. The founders probably wouldn't be too happy about another major shareholder entering the picture."
[That's likely the case. The more investors they bring in, the more their own shares will inevitably be diluted.]
"Is Yahoo short on funds?"
[We only invested in them recently, so that's unlikely.]
Landon dismissed the idea imdiately.
"Then why would they seek additional investnt so soon, even if the terms are favorable? It could be an attempt to bring in another investor to keep us in check."
[I hadn't considered that, but now that you ntion it, it does make sense.]
Although co-founders Jerry Yang and David Filo each held 30% of the company, giving them a majority stake, they would need to secure multiple rounds of funding to continue expanding the business.
As ti went on, their shareholdings would inevitably be diluted.
'The lower their stake gets, the more uneasy they'll feel about us. They might even start worrying about losing control of the company altogether.'
It wasn't an unfounded fear. They didn't have to look far—Apple's co-founder, Steve Jobs, had been famously ousted from his own company, making headlines across Silicon Valley.
After a brief pause for thought, Seok-won spoke again.
"Even if we pass on this round, our preemptive acquisition rights will remain in place, correct?"
[That's right.]
"If we try to block new investors and take more shares for ourselves, Jerry and David will only beco more wary of us. Let's let this one go."
[Understood.]
Landon, who had thought Yahoo's $40 million valuation was wildly inflated, accepted the decision without protest.
"But make sure they don't sell more than 5% of their shares."
[Got it.]
After a brief pause, Landon brought up another matter.
[By the way, SoftBank has shown interest in acquiring our exclusive rights in the Asian market. How should we respond?]
Seok-won grinned knowingly, flashing his white teeth.
"Tell them we have no intention of selling."
[I'll take care of it.]
After ending the call, Seok-won lowered his phone and murmured to himself.
"Even if I refuse, Masayoshi Son isn't the type to give up so easily."
He was certain that Son would co looking for him soon—after all, the exclusive rights to the Asian market were just as valuable as the Yahoo shares he was after.
"I have no intention of launching a portal service in Japan myself, but that doesn't an I'll just hand over a golden goose like this."
Securing those exclusive rights when investing in Yahoo had been a calculated move—for this exact mont.
"There's no need for
to spend ti and effort building the business myself. If Masayoshi Son works hard to grow it, I can just sit back and collect the money."
With that thought, a deep smile spread across Seok-won's lips.
Reviews
All reviews (0)